As many investors struggle to sell assets around the world, demand for shariah compliant indices is growing as Islamic investors seek to broaden ways to gain global exposure, prompting providers to step up their offerings.

The market for Islamic investment products is growing at about 15-20 per cent a year and equity fund assets alone are forecast to jump from $15bn to $53bn (£33bn, €45bn) by 2010, says FTSE Group, which is seeing increased demand for shariah compliant indices across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and South Africa.