.jpg)
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) announce the launch of an Australian microcap equity benchmark - the S&P/ASX Emerging Companies Index - which will be available from Monday, 3 August. The creation of this Index follows lengthy consultation with stakeholders in this market segment and is designed to provide an investable industry benchmark for Australian microcap funds.
The Index significantly broadens the universe of securities covered by the S&P/ASX index family, providing investors with a new index portfolio that will enable them to make more informed investment decisions. The S&P/ASX Emerging Companies Index has a maximum of 200 constituents with stocks ranked between 350 and 600 by total market capitalisation eligible for inclusion.
This portfolio is representative of a segment in the market that is relatively under-researched compared to stocks in the S&P/ASX 300. With its tailored methodology, the performance characteristics of the S&P/ASX Emerging Companies Index are unique to the microcap sector, complementing existing Australian equity benchmarks such as the S&P/ASX 200, therefore allowing a meaningful comparative analysis to take place. The Index will initially be available as an end-of-day index from S&P. ASX is anticipating making the Index available in real-time later in the year.
Richard Murphy, General Manager, Equity Markets, ASX said: “ASX welcomes the launch of the S&P/ASX Emerging Companies Index which will give greater visibility to emerging companies in the institutional investment market and assist them to raise much needed growth capital. Research undertaken by ASX and S&P of companies and investors in this segment found that there was a need for an index covering the future leaders of our market.”
Simon Karaban, Director, Research and Design within Standard & Poor’s Index Services said: “The introduction of the S&P/ASX Emerging Companies Index to the Australian market is an important measure in ensuring that there is a representative benchmark index for all segments of the market. It is a reflection of industry interest in this segment and provides an investable benchmark specifically for the microcap sector.”
Back data is available on request and more information, including a detailed index methodology and Q&A, can be obtained from the S&P website at www.standardandpoors.com.
