Products June 2, 2008

S&P Breaks Ground on Asian Property Index

Standard&Poor’s launched the S&P Asia Property 40 index, which will provide liquid exposure to the leading publicly-listed companies in the Asian property and real estate markets.
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The S&P Asia Property 40 Index is composed of the 40 leading listed Asian property companies that meet size, liquidity and local listing requirements, with no single market having more than 15 stocks in the index or representing more than 40% of the index. An S&P announcement says that it will be used by banks and asset management companies to create retail investment products.

The index is aimed at providing investors with diversified, investable exposure to the Asian property market. The index is a subset of the S&P/Citigroup Global Property Index, which has more than 400 stocks from the S&P/Citigroup Broad Market Index (BMI).

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Top Ten

The top 10 index companies by market capitalization are:

  • Mitsubishi Estate
  • Swire Pacific Ltd.
  • Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.
  • Mitsui Fudosan
  • Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd.
  • CapitaLand
  • Country Garden Holdings Co.
  • Sumitomo Realty & Development
  • Guangzhou R&F Properties
  • Hang Lung Properties

The S&P Asia Property 40 Index employs a modified market capitalization-weighting scheme, and is rebalanced after the close of business on the third Friday of November each year.

Stocks must have total market capitalization above US$ 1 billion and a three-month average daily value traded above the liquidity threshold of US$ 3 million. All stocks in the selection universe are classified according to country of domicile, with China and Hong Kong being treated as separate countries. Each stock’s domicile must be an Asian country and its primary market listing must be on a regulated Asian stock exchange.

For more information on the indexes, go to http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

Products June 2, 2008

American Century Unveils Four More Target-Date Offerings

American Century Investments rolled out four target-date LIVESTRONG Portfolios, the company announced.
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The nine LIVESTRONG Portfolios now include target dates in five-year intervals from 2015 to 2050. The latest funds are LIVESTRONG 2020, 2030, 2040, and 2050 Portfolios and join the existing line up: LIVESTRONG 2015, 2025, 2035, 2045 Portfolios and LIVESTRONG Income. The same fund-of-funds structure, objective, and strategy that apply to the management of the existing portfolios also apply to the new portfolios.

According to the company, LIVESTRONG Portfolios are designed to reallocate from a capital appreciation focus to a more conservative one as the target date approaches. The LIVESTRONG Income Portfolio is for retirement investors seeking current income with some growth potential.

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The five portfolios invest in up to 14 different funds and provide exposure to specialty strategies such as real estate, emerging markets, international bonds, and inflation-indexed bonds.

The standard fund minimum is $2,500, although for a traditional or Roth IRA, American Century will waive the fund minimum for an initial investment of at least $500 and subsequent enlistment in automatic monthly investments of at least $100 until reaching the fund minimum.

“The new funds will employ the same glide path as the existing funds with a range of underlying funds and rebalance each year until the participants reach their anticipated year of retirement,” said Jeffrey Tyler, American Century Investments senior vice president and senior portfolio manager of the LIVESTRONG Portfolios, in a company news release. “Our clients have asked us for this added flexibility and we’re pleased to propose such a selection for investors with a long-term horizon. Our objectives are to offer investors diversification and an increased opportunity to meet their investment goals and stay on course.”

In addition to Tyler, a 21-year American Century veteran, the portfolio management team for LIVESTRONG Portfolios includes Irina Torelli, who joined the company in 1997. Tyler and Torelli also oversee American Century’s other asset allocation funds: three Strategic Allocation funds, the five One Choice Portfolios, and multiple target-date portfolios available through the Kansas Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Program.

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