Dow Jones Launches Emerging Markets Benchmark

The new offering is licensed to Emerging Global Advisors, LLC and will serve as a basis for an exchange-traded fund (ETF), to be listed on NYSE Arca. The ETF, called the EGShares Emerging Markets Consumer ETF (NYSE ticker: ECON) is the first emerging market ETF focused on consumer trends in the developing world, according to a news release.

“Consumer spending is a leading economic indicator,” said Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes, in the announcement. “The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Consumer Titans 30 Index tracks the largest and most profitable consumer goods and consumer services companies in developing countries today. This allows investors to examine consumer spending in developing countries during the global economic recovery,” he said.

The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Consumer Titans 30 Index is calculated in U.S. dollars, reviewed annually in June and weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization. Within the index, individual stocks’ weightings are capped at 10% of the total float-adjusted market capitalization. As of August 31, 2010, it had a 12-month performance of 36.77%. For 2010 through August 31, it is up 11.05%.

The new offering is part of the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Sector Titans index series which consists of a composite index, 10 industry indexes as defined by the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB), and one customized index for metals and mining.