The EuroMTS Global Master Unit will be traded on Borsa Italiana, with liquidity provided by Société Générale and Banca IMI from April 27, 2004.
This highly innovative new product will be based on the Global EuroMTS index, a euro-denominated index which measures the performance of the eurozone government bond market and affords investors exposure to the entire yield curve. The EuroMTS Index, formerly the CNO Etrix, is the only independent, real time Eurozone government bond index calculated using tradable prices. The index is comprised of six maturity band indices ranging from 1-3 years up to 15+ years.
The EuroMTS Global Master Unit will provide investors with a simple, cost efficient way of diversifying their bond portfolios, securitising cash or hedging portfolio risk with a single transaction.
“Lyxor Asset Management affirms its ability to offer innovative financial solutions by listing the first government bond ETF in Italy,” said David Armstrong, managing director and head of equity derivatives, Société Générale, Italy. “The EuroMTS Index is highly representative of the eurozone government debt market and is widely used as a benchmark in Europe. The transparency of this index allowed for the creation of an ETF.”
“We are confident that the advantages of the EuroMTS Index, including its unique price transparency and the tradability of the underlying bonds, when allied with Lyxor’s status in the European ETF market, will ensure the success of this product,” said Scott Stark, chief executive officer, of MTSNext. “The EuroMTS Global Master Unit is the first of its kind, the first to track the eurozone government bond market, and so represents an important development in the European ETF industry.”
