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Products July 11, 2008
Dow Jones Unveils Africa Index
Dow Jones Indexes has launched the Dow Jones Africa Titans 50 Index, a pan-African benchmark that measures the stock performance of 50 companies that are headquartered in, or generate the majority of their revenues in, Africa.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
A Dow Jones news release said the offering allows market participants to have either direct or indirect exposure to markets in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia.
The index has been licensed to Van Eck Global, a provider of global investment products, to serve as the basis for an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will be available July 14 at the New York Stock Exchange.
“The methodology behind the Dow Jones Africa Titans 50 Index provides a balanced reflection of the African markets,” said Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes, in the announcement. “It was important for us to develop an investable index that gives true exposure to the African region and is open to all African countries that qualify for it.”
The Dow Jones Africa Titans 50 Index is weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization. Each country’s weight is capped at 25% and weights of individual components are capped at 8% with a maximum of 15 companies per country. For inclusion in the index, companies must have a minimum market capitalization of $200 million and a minimum three-month average daily trading volume of $1 million, the announcement said.
The three biggest sectors represented in the index are Basic Resources, Banking, and Oil & Gas, according to the super sector classification breakdown.
More information is available at www.djindexes.com.