New FTSE Renaissance IPO Index Series Captures Unique Performance Of Newly Issued Equities

FTSE Group, the award-winning global index provider, and initial public offering (IPO) expert Renaissance Capital LLC, today announce the launch of the new FTSE Renaissance IPO Index Series. The first index to be launched under the series is the FTSE Renaissance IPO Composite Index, which captures the early performance of newly issued equities and offers investors the opportunity to track an important and often missing piece of the U.S. equities market. One such equity is the IPO of language learning solutions provider Rosetta Stone, which is scheduled for inclusion in the index after the close of the U.S. market tomorrow.

Because many IPOs wait up to three months or longer for inclusion in most major U.S. benchmarks, their early returns are missed. The FTSE Renaissance IPO Composite Index, which is suitable for the creation of exchange traded funds and other structured products, captures these unique returns. Historically, the index has outperformed major US market benchmarks, including the FTSE USA All Cap Index and the FTSE All World USA Index, both of which capture mid and large cap equities. Academic studies show that in down markets, characterized by low issuance of IPOs, only the strongest and most attractively priced companies go public, leading to the strong outperformance of the FTSE Renaissance IPO Composite Index thus far in 2009.