S&P CIVETS 60 Index Launched to Measure Growth Beyond the BRICs

LONDON, May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to market demand, S&P Indices has launched the S&P CIVETS 60, a tradable index comprised of second-generation emerging markets, characterized by dynamic, rapidly changing economies and young, growing populations. CIVETS is a recent, and increasingly, widely recognized acronym that refers to the countries of Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa.

The S&P CIVETS 60 is comprised of ten liquid stocks trading on each relevant domestic exchange within the 6 CIVETS countries. The Index is unique in that no other index covers these specific markets as a tradable index, and it is likely to serve as the basis for ETFs in Europe and Asia.

"With reasonably sophisticated financial systems and rapidly maturing equity markets, the six CIVETS countries show all the signs of becoming increasingly important to international investors," says Michael Orzano, Associate Director of Global Equity Indices at S&P Indices. "The launch of this Index underlines the leadership we've shown in building out our family of emerging/frontier market and BRIC indices over the last decade."

To be included in the S&P CIVETS 60, stocks must have a float-adjusted market capitalization above $500 million. The Index is a modified market capitalization-weighted index, with no country having a weight of more than 30% at each semi-annual rebalancing.

The CIVETS countries have a total population of over 580 million as of December 31, 2010, and share some key characteristics: their economies are relatively diversified, not overly reliant on natural resources, and with increasing foreign direct investment.

As of March 31, 2011, South Africa represented 31.61% of the Index, followed by Indonesia (28.14%), Turkey (21.01%), Columbia (12.49%), Egypt (5.68%) and Vietnam (1.07%).

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SOURCE Standard & Poor's