Products December 2, 2002

Analytics Firm, Nasdaq Team to Develop Social Index

February 12, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - An institutional market research firm specializing in socially responsible investing is teaming with The Nasdaq Stock Market to offer the first socially-screened index of Nasdaq companies.
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According to an announcement by KLD Research & Analytics, Inc., the KLD-Nasdaq Social Index is a market value weighted index, tracking the largest US Nasdaq companies in major market sectors including:

  • technology,
  • financial, and
  • telecommunications

It is the first market-based socially responsible index, the KLD announced.
The analystics group constructed the new benchmark by applying a variety of social and environmental criteria to Nasdaq Composite domestic companies with over $1 billion in market capitalization.

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KLD’s social criteria include, among other things, a company’s:

  • environmental record,
  • employee relations,
  • non-US operations, and
  • involvement in the tobacco industry

Among the Index’s top ten holdings are:

  • software and systems maker Oracle Corp., which has notably strong diversity policies,
  • biotech firm Amgen, Inc., with strong community involvement programs, and
  • Qualcomm Inc., a communications technology firm, which has a strong employee involvement policy, according to KLD

In related news, today also saw the launch of the Social Leaders Fund, which invests in companies committed to environmental and social improvements.

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