FTSE Group, the award-winning global index provider, has announced that its FTSE RAFI Emerging Index will be adopted by Daiwa Asset Management for an emerging market index fund being launched today. The Daiwa fund will be offered as a defined contribution (DC) pension investment option and will be the first to track the FTSE RAFI Emerging Index in Japan.
The FTSE RAFI® Emerging Index is part of FTSE Group’s range of investment strategy indices. Developed by FTSE and Research Affiliates (RAFI), the index selects and weights constituents using four fundamental factors - dividends, cash flow, sales and book value - rather than market capitalisation. The index is designed to provide investors with a tool to enable investment in emerging markets whilst using a fundamental weightings methodology.
Mr. Hiroyuki Nitta, General Manager of Daiwa Asset Management said, “By working with FTSE to jointly develop an innovative fundamental index fund for emerging equity markets, it’s with great pleasure that we are to be able to offer a broader investment choice to investors who participate in DC pension plans.”
Paul Hoff, Managing Director, FTSE Asia Pacific Business Development added, “Institutional investors globally have shown significant interest in non-market cap index strategies. FTSE is proud to be working closely with an industry leader, Daiwa Asset Management, to provide investors with a first-ever opportunity to access emerging markets via the fundamentally weighted FTSE RAFI Emerging Index.”