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Global index provider, FTSE Group (FTSE) and the JSE, Africa’s premier exchange, today announce that they have licensed Lyxor Asset Management (Lyxor) to use the large cap FTSE JSE Top 40 Index as the basis of an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to be listed on Euronext Paris today. The FTSE JSE Top 40 is the leading measure of the South African market for domestic and international investors and forms part of the FTSE/JSE Africa Index Series – a series created to ensure that international investors are provided with opportunities to trade in this key market on the African continent. FTSE indices are increasingly selected by investment banks as the basis of ETFs, and today’s fund joins a successful and rapidly growing family of over 50 FTSE index-linked ETFs available to investors on exchanges worldwide.
In Euro terms, the FTSE JSE Top 40 has provided a total return of 142.5% over last three years, compared to FTSE Developed Europe index which returned 81.7%. The index contains the largest 40 stocks by market capitalisation listed on the JSE.
In a joint statement, Imogen Dillon Hatcher, FTSE’s Managing Director for EMEA, and Ana Forssman, Head of Information Products Sales Division at JSE commented, “The FTSE JSE Top 40 Index is the leading measure for the South African market, and provides investors with exposure to a dynamic segment of the exciting South African market, which constitutes 60% of Africa’s market capitalisation. We are delighted to bring the FTSE JSE Top 40 and the investment opportunities it offers to the European market. ”
FTSE and its partners are committed to providing the investment community with indexing services to meet market demand. Today’s business win for FTSE and JSE proves again that FTSE indices have become internationally established as an innovative basis for new investment products worldwide. More information about the FTSE JSE Top 40 is available at www.ftse.com and www.jse.co.za
