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Sue Lee

Director and APAC Head of Index Investment Strategy, S&P Dow Jones Indices

Sue Lee is Director and APAC Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). The group provides research and commentary on S&P DJI’s entire product set, including U.S. and global equities, fixed income, commodities and economic indices. Prior to joining S&P DJI in 2023, Sue worked as an equity derivatives strategist at Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan, where she published market analyses and trade ideas for the Asia Pacific region. She also worked for a family office in Hong Kong where she managed a multi-asset portfolio. Sue is a CFA charterholder and holds a master’s degree in financial engineering from University of California at Berkeley, as well as a bachelor’s degree in business from Seoul National University.
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Mar 2, 2026

Defining Paths: The Expanding Landscape of Options-Based Index Strategies

The investment landscape is in a perpetual state of evolution, with market participants continually seeking innovative tools. In recent years, options-based strategies—particularly those delivered through an ETF wrapper—have surged in popularity. Once the domain of institutional investors or structured product users, options-based strategies like covered call and buffered strategies have been democratized. This growth represents…

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Jan 7, 2026

Index-Based Investing in Islamic Finance: 2025 Review

The Islamic asset management industry has been experiencing growth in index-based investing, and these trends have accelerated in 2025. As of October 2025, assets under management (AUM) in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to Islamic indices reached USD 7.3 billion, a 44% YTD increase (see Exhibit 1)—outpacing the 30% growth observed in the global ETF market.1…

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Jul 23, 2025

S&P DJI’s Global Islamic Equity Benchmarks Rose 6% in H1 2025, Underperforming Conventional Benchmarks

In the first half of 2025, global equities faced significant volatility, primarily driven by developments related to U.S. tariffs. Steep declines between February and April were followed by a swift recovery, and the S&P Global BMI ultimately finished with a solid 10.0% return. U.S. equities underperformed, breaking their streak of extended outperformance, as the S&P…

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Jan 7, 2025

Index-Based Investing in Islamic Finance: Trends and Implications

Indices play a crucial role in Islamic finance by identifying the universe of securities eligible for Shariah-compliant investments, establishing the benchmarks by which Islamic market participants assess performance and increasingly serving as the basis for index-linked investment products. Islamic finance has also embraced the global trend toward index-based or “passive” investing,1 with assets in exchange-traded…

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Nov 6, 2024

S&P DJI’s Global Islamic Equity Benchmarks Rose 5% in Q3 2024, Underperforming Conventional Benchmarks

Global equities continued to trend higher in the third quarter of 2024, as central banks in many parts of the world moved to ease monetary policy on the back of moderating inflation. The S&P Global BMI rose 7.0% for the quarter and was up 18.1% YTD. Emerging market regions drove the market up, with an…

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Aug 21, 2024

A Window on S&P/ASX Index Liquidity

Over the years, the accumulation of assets and trading volumes across index-linked products such as futures, options and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has led to a trading ecosystem associated with major market indices. Index arbitrageurs and market makers trade different products tracking the same index, keeping their prices sufficiently close to the underlying index. Other market…

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Jul 24, 2024

S&P DJI’s Global Islamic Equity Benchmarks Rose 13% in H1 2024, Outperforming Conventional Benchmarks

Global equities extended their upward trend into Q2 2024 on the back of sustained economic growth and moderating inflation. The S&P Global BMI posted a healthy 10.4% return in the first half of the year, led by the U.S where the S&P 500® had an impressive run with a 15.3% gain and new record highs….

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Apr 25, 2024

S&P DJI’s Global Islamic Equity Benchmarks Rose 9% in the First Quarter, Extending Outperformance against Conventional Benchmarks

Global equities had a strong start to the year as economic resilience and diminishing recession fears boosted risky assets overall. The S&P Global BMI surged 7.8% in the first quarter, led by developed markets; notably, the S&P 500® finished the quarter up 10.6%, at a new record high. Shariah-compliant global benchmarks beat their conventional counterparts,…

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Apr 24, 2024

SPIVA Japan Scorecard 2023: Misfortune for Japanese Stock Pickers

Since the first publication of the S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA®) U.S. Scorecard in 2002, S&P Dow Jones Indices has regularly reported on the relative performance of actively managed funds versus benchmark indices across an increasing number of global fund markets and fund categories.1 The SPIVA Japan Scorecard has been tracking the performance of active…

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Jan 26, 2024

S&P DJI’s Global Islamic Equity Benchmarks Surged Nearly 12% in the Final Quarter, Outperforming Conventional Benchmarks in 2023

Global equities witnessed a strong Q4 2023 as slowing inflation and the potential for lower interest rates improved market sentiment drastically. The S&P Global BMI rallied 11.4% for the quarter, finishing the year with an impressive 21.9% return. Middle East and North Africa (MENA) equities rose 6.4% in Q4, as measured by the S&P Pan…

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