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STOXX Ltd. and Dow Jones Indexes, two leading global index providers, today announced that they licensed the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Supersector Indexes and the Dow Jones Turkey Titans 20 Index to Lyxor AM, a wholly owned subsidiary of Société Génerale, to serve as underlying for exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This is the first time that ETFs based on these indexes are listed in France.
The ETFs will be launched in two phases, with the first set of Lyxor ETFs based on the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Supersectors beginning to trade today. The second set of Lyxor ETFs based on the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Supersectors and the ETF based on the Dow Jones Turkey Titans 20 will be listed on August 29, 2006 in Paris.
“Licensing the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Supersector Indexes confirms the growing interest in sector investment and STOXX’s leading position in this area. It also offers a simple way to diversify portfolios,” said Lars Hamich, managing director of STOXX Ltd., the joint venture that is responsible for Dow Jones Indexes’ business development in Europe, Asia, Africa and Middle East. “Licensing the Dow Jones Turkey Titans 20 Index as underlying for an ETF gives European investors access to the performance of the Turkish market — an exciting emerging economy.“
“European sector ETFs are the natural complement to our range of geographical and style equity ETFs. They will allow our clients to implement their sector allocation strategy in an efficient way. We chose the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Supersector indexes as they are the benchmark of a large part of our clientele,” commented Isabelle Bourcier, ETF Global Coordinator for Lyxor AM.
“In addition, we will be listing on the 29th of August an ETF on the Dow Jones Turkey Titans 20. It will be the first ETF on the Turkish market listed outside its domestic country. This ETF complements our ever-growing emerging ETF range,” added Bourcier.
The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Supersector Indexes comprise the largest companies from 17 European countries in each of the 18 supersectors, as defined by the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB). These indexes are derived from the Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index, which measures 600 of the largest European stocks by free-float market capitalization. The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Supersector Indexes were introduced in June 1998 and are reviewed on a quarterly basis.
The Dow Jones Turkey Titans 20 Index measures the performance of the leading 20 companies traded at the Istanbul Stock Exchange. To be included in the index, the top 20 stocks are selected based on rankings on float-adjusted market capitalization and average trading volume. The index was first introduced in July 2004 and is reviewed annually in March. The Dow Jones Turkey Titans 20 Index is one of the 17 indexes in the Dow Jones Country Titans index series.
