"The launch of these three new indices reflects the importance of this type of security as an investment in Canada," said Glenn Doody, Vice-President, Canadian Index Services, Standard & Poor's. "We look forward to continuing our work with the income trust community to deliver financial tools that help investors get exposure to income trust investments. We believe that index-linked products will provide investors with opportunities to further diversify their portfolios, while taking advantage of the unique features of the income trust structure."
"Increased sophistication of capital markets has led to the development and popularity of income trusts. We have experienced tremendous growth in the number of listings in these securities over the past two years," said Clare Gaudet, Senior Vice President, Issuer Services, Toronto Stock Exchange. "These new indices reflect the ever-changing marketplace and the need to create indices that best reflect investor interest."
Standard & Poor's expects that exchange-traded funds (ETF's) will be launched on one or more of these indices. Barclays Global Investors Canada Ltd. has been licensed to create an ETF, based on the S&P/TSX Canadian REIT Index, that will trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
In January 2000 Standard & Poor's acquired its Canadian index operations from the Toronto Stock Exchange. The goal then was, and continues to be, to provide indices with excellent liquidity and tradability to serve as a strong base for derivative and investment products and to give Canadian companies broader exposure to global investors. Since then, Standard & Poor's has considerably expanded both the depth and quantity of equity index coverage in Canada.
Standard & Poor's is a leader in providing highly valued financial data, analytical research and investment and credit opinions to the global capital markets. Among the company's many products are the S&P Global 1200, the first real-time, global equity index, the S&P 500, the premier U.S. portfolio index, and credit ratings on more than 220,000 securities and funds With more than 5,000 employees located in 18 countries, Standard & Poor's is an integral part of the world's financial architecture. Additional information is available at www.spglobal.com.
Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, Business Week and McGraw-Hill Education. The corporation has more than 300 offices in 33 countries. Sales in 2000 were $4.3 billion. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.
