STOXX Limited, the market-moving provider of innovative, tradable and global index concepts, today announced the results of the regular annual review of the STOXX Emerging and Developed Markets Country Classification. All changes will become effective with the open of markets on September 23, 2013. Furthermore, the index universe of the STOXX Global 1800 Index and all related sub and sector indices, among them the STOXX Europe 600 Index, will be extended to cover all countries which are classified as developed markets starting with the Q3 benchmark index review.
With the open of markets on September 23, 2013, the classification of emerging and developed markets in the STOXX index universe remains unchanged. Currently, out of the 65 countries in the STOXX index universe, 25 are classified as developed markets, and 20 are classified as emerging markets. A full list of countries including their classification can be found under the dedicated country classification section of the STOXX website: http://www.stoxx.com/indices/country_classification.html.
With the conduction of the Q3 benchmark index review, the index universe for the STOXX Global 1800 Index and all related sub and sector indices will be extended to cover all countries which are classified as developed markets as defined by the STOXX Emerging and Developed Markets Country Classification. As a result companies listed in the Czech Republic will become eligible for inclusion in these indices for the first time, i.e. companies listed in the Czech Republic will already be included on the selection lists for the Q3 review. Component changes will be announced on August 27, 2013 after the close of markets, and become effective with the open of markets on September 23, 2013.
The STOXX market classification model relies on a completely rules-based and transparent methodology, and is the first such concept to exclude any subjective decisions from the process. The five criteria for the classification of a country as a developed marked include macroeconomic data, market capitalization, market liquidity, free currency convertibility on onshore and offshore markets, and restrictions on capital flows. The data source for the diverse criteria are highly renowned and independent global organizations (i.e. International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and PricewaterhouseCoopers).
