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S&P; launches new South African index suite

18 February 2014

S&P; Dow Jones, the world’s largest provider of securities indexes, has launched nine new indices covering the South African equity market, the company announced in a statement last week.

The S&P; South Africa Composite is an index that measures the performance of companies actively traded and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

It has 149 stocks, compared to the FTSE/JSE Africa All-Share Index’s 165 members, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

The new index includes both foreign- and locally-based companies listed on the JSE with market values of $100-million or more and annual trade of at least $50 million.

The biggest constituents of the composite are BHP Billiton, Financiere Richemont SA, and SABMiller Plc.

This new series of indices would bring greater index based measurement and transparency to the South African market and its investors, said Vinit Srivastava, senior director at S&P; Dow Jones Indices.

The company also launched the S&P; Low Volatility Index, which measures the performance of the 40 least volatile stocks from the newly created S&P; South Africa Composite. Included here are British American Tobacco, Omnia Holdings, Capital & Counties Properties and Hosken Consolidated Investments.

The newly created S&P; South Africa Dividend Aristocrats Index is designed to "measure the performance of constituents within the S&P; South Africa Domestic index that have followed a policy of increasing or maintaining stable dividends for five consecutive years", the company said.

Included here are Sanlam, Discovery, Spar Group, Naspers, Foschini Group, BAT and Mr Price Group.

Source: S&P; Dow Jones Indices

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