The Markets January 16, 2008

Dow Jones Wilshire Global Index Family Expands

Dow Jones Indexes and Wilshire Associates have announced that Bahrain, Kuwait and Sri Lanka will be added to the Dow Jones Wilshire Global index family.
Reported by

The additions will become effective as of the start of trading on March 24, 2008, after the regular quarterly review of the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Indexes. According to a press release, the inclusion of these three countries to the Dow Jones Wilshire Global index family increases the total number of countries in the index suite to 61.

All three countries will be added to the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Total Market Index, Dow Jones Wilshire Global exUS Index, and Dow Jones Wilshire Emerging Markets Index. In addition, Bahrain and Kuwait will join the Dow Jones Wilshire Middle East & Africa Index. Sri Lanka will join the Dow Jones Wilshire Asia-Pacific Index.

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Company Count

As of January 14, 2008, 8 Bahraini, 69 Kuwaiti, and 18 Sri Lankan companies are expected to be added to the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Total Market Index and respective regional and country indexes. The final component count will be available on March 24, 2008. There are currently 12,822 stocks in the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Total Market Index.

The Dow Jones Wilshire Bahrain Index, Dow Jones Wilshire Kuwait Index and Dow Jones Wilshire Sri Lanka Index will have initial index values of 1,000.00 on March 23, 2008, according to a press release. The Dow Jones Wilshire Global Indexes are calculated in price and total return and weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization.

Further information can be found on www.djindexes.com.

Products January 16, 2008

MA Firm Launches Plan Advice Offering

A Newton, Massachusetts firm, I-Pension LLC, has launched a new retirement plan investment advice program.
Reported by

An I-Pension news release said it will match 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plan account investors to a model that reflects their temperament, time horizon, and outlook. The firm also will perform daily monitoring to make sure the accounts are kept on track using a rules-based rebalancing system.

I-Pension works directly with the employee and accepts fiduciary responsibility for the employee’s account, the announcement said.

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Account holders are charged a flat rate based on account balances: $1.00 a day for accounts of $40,000 or more and $.50 a day for accounts under $40,000.

“Our goal is simple,” explains Jane Mancini, CEO of I-Pension, in the news release. “We want to help people save for retirement and then help ensure that their savings can support them through all the years of retirement.”

More information is available at http://www.I-Pension.com.

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