STOXX Limited, a global index provider and creator of the leading European equity indices, today announced the launch of the STOXX Europe 600 NC Supersector Indices, a set of non-capped (NC) supersector indices for the European region. The new indices are intended to be used for benchmarking purposes.
The launch of the STOXX Europe 600 NC Supersector Indices follows the decision to cap the component weights in the existing STOXX Europe 600 Supersectors Indices on a quarterly basis to ensure compliance with UCITS III standards for portfolio diversification. This will be implemented with the September Benchmark Review and become effective on September 20, 2010.
"The upcoming methodology change for the STOXX Europe 600 Supersector Indices in regard to capping of the component weights will allow passive investment products to follow the performance of the well-known supersector indices, while complying with the regulatory requirements of UCITS III," said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX Ltd. "We are launching the STOXX Europe 600 NC Supersector Indices today to accommodate those market participants who prefer an un-capped benchmark, thus taking a further step to strengthen STOXX's product offering for the buy-side business."
The STOXX Europe 600 NC Supersector Indices aim to represent the largest European companies in each of the 19 ICB supersectors, and currently cover Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The 19 supersectors are: Automobiles & Parts, Banks, Basic Resources, Chemicals, Construction & Materials, Financial Services, Food & Beverage, Health Care, Industrial Goods & Services, Insurance, Media, Oil & Gas, Personal & Household Goods, Real Estate, Retail, Technology, Telecommunications, Travel & Leisure and Utilities.
The STOXX Europe 600 NC Supersector Indices are weighted by free-float adjusted market capitalization, without capping of component weights. They are reviewed quarterly in March, June, September and December. Daily history is available back to December 31, 1986. The indices are available in price and net return versions, and are calculated in Euro and U.S. Dollar (USD).
Further information on the STOXX Europe NC Supersector Indices is available at www.stoxx.com.
