Chapter 14: Investment indices Flashcards
ex-divididend or XD adjustment
An ex-dividend or XD adjustment represents the amount of income that has been received since the start of the year by a capital value index.
Geometric index features (3) (advantages and disadvantages)
- the index goes to zero if one of the components goes to zero.
- easy to calculate as only price data is required
- gives an indication of short-term price movements, but it is totally unsuitable as a benchmark or investment strategy or portfolio investment measurement.
Uses of indices (8)
- a measure of short-term market movements
- providing a history of market movement and levels
- as a tool for estimating future movements in the market, based on past trends
- as a benchmark against which to assess the investment performance of portfolios
- valuing a notional portfolio
- analysing sub-sectors of the market
- as a basis for index funds which track the particular market
- to provide the basis for the creation of derivative instruments relating to the market or sub-section of the market.
Particular uses for Bond indices: (4)
- a standard against which yields on other fixed-interest investments can be assessed
- approximate valuation for a fixed-interest portfolio
- providing a picture of general yield structures of fixed-interest investments
- a measure of the yield gap between bonds and equities
FTSE UK Index Series features: (5)
- Market capitalisation weighted arithmetic indices
- FTSE 100 index - is based on the 100 largest companies and covers about 80%
- FTSE 100 is the most widely quoted of the FTSE UK Index Series
- The FTSE All-share index covers about 98% of the market by value.
- The FTSE Aim Index series - covers companies traded in the UK Alternative Investment Market
Dow Jones Industrial Average
- Made up of 30 leading New York shares.
- It is an unweighted arithmetic index
- Provides a quick guide to shares in the industrials sector
- It is not representative of the American equity market as a whole.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index
- It is a weighted arithmetic index
- Its constituents are 500 leading companies in the USA
- It is often suitable to use for performance measurement of a funds portfolio of USA equities
Nikkei Stock Average 225: (3)
- it is an unweighted arithmetic index.
- it has 225 constituents (which are not the largest 225 companies and represent 50% of the market)
- It is the most widely used indicator of short-term movements in the Japanese market.
Topix - Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section Index: (4)
- comprises of approximately 1700 shares listed in Japan
- it is a market capitalisation weighted arithmetic index
- the constituents represent the leading companies in the Japanese market.
- the index is more suitable for use in performance measurement.
DAX
The DAX is a real-time index of thirty leading shares.
It is a total return index.
CAC
It is the main market index in France, comprising 250 shares
The FTSE/JSE Africa Headline indices (5)
- FTSE/JSE ALSI (All Share Index) consisting of 99% of all listed companies.
- Top 40 - consisting of 40 largest stocks, constituting around 84% of the ALSI.
- MId-cap index - mad up of stocks from position 41 to 100, and around 14% of he ALSI.
- Small cap index - made up of stocks from position 101, and about 2% of the ALSI.
- Fledgling Index - consisting of the 1% of listed companies not interluded in the ALSI.
VIX
this a volatility equity index which measures the volatility of equities.
It is typically used as an indication of the market perception of risk.
FTSE Global Equity Index: (3)
- covers over 98% of the world’s equity markets in terms of investible market capitalisation.
- The indices are weighted arithmetic indices based on market capitalisations and reflect free float weightings.
- Index numbers are shown for each country in US dollar and the local currency.
Property price indices are very difficult to maintain because: (2)
- there is little reliable, up-to-date price data for properties at any one moment.
- properties tend to be very heterogeneous