Chapter 15: Investment indices Flashcards
Construction of indices
Weighted arithmetic indices
- Chain-linking
Total return indices
- XD adjustment
- Yield adjustment
Unweighted arithmetic indices
Geometric indices
Free float
The proportion of shares that’re freely available for purchase on the open market.
Holding period return
(P1+d)/P0 -1
- P0 and P1 are values of the investment at beginning and end of the period
- d is the income generated by the investment over the period
Unweighted arithmetic indices
AKA price weighted indices.
It is the arithmetic average of the relative price changes of the constituents.
Unsuitable as a benchmark for dynamic institutional portfolios.
The uses to which indices can be put
FINDS Best Hidden Spots
- Future movements (tool for estimating based on past trends)
- Index funds (basis for these funds)
- Notional portfolio (valuing it)
- Derivatives -basis for the creation relating to market or sub-sector of market
- Sub-sector analysis
- Short-term market movements (measure)
- History of market movements and levels given
- Benchmark against which to assess investment performance of portfolios
+SAGS (for government bond indices)
- Standard - to compare yields from other fixed interest investments
- Approximate - valuation of fixed interest portfolios
- Gap (yield gap between bonds and equities)
- Structures - picture of general yield structures of fixed interest investments
Factors to consider when specifying/creating/using an index
- purpose of index
- constituents and basis for inclusion/exclusion
- type of index (e.g. weighted arithmetic)
- frequency of calculation
- price data to use (e.g. mid-market prices)
- how to deal with capital changes (e.g. chain-linking)
- what to do about income (e.g. XD adjustments, total return indices), how to deal with tax, when to credit income, when to reinvest, etc.
UK Equity Indices
FTSE UK Index Series
Market capitalisation weighted arithmetic indices. In addition to capital and total return index numbers they give:
- Average net dividend cover
- Actual dividend yield
- Price earnings ratio
- Ex-dividend adjustment
Specific Indices:
- FTSE 100 Index
- FTSE 250 Index
- FTSE 350 Supersectors Indexes
- FTSE SmallCap Index
- FTSE All-Share Index
- FTSE Fledgling Index
- FTSE AIM Index Series
US equity indices
- Dow Jones - unweighted index
- Standard and Poor’s (S&P 500) - weighted arithmetic index
- NASDAQ
Equity indices for Japan
- Nikkei - arithmetic index
- Topix - market capitalisation arithmetic index reflecting free float (more comprehensive and suitable for performance measurement than Nikkei)
Equity indices for Europe
- DAX (Germany) - real-time total return index
- CAC (France) - CAC 40 vehicle for an index futures contract
- FTSE Eurotop 100
- FTSEurofirst 300
- Eurobloc equivalents
- Dow Jones Eurostoxx 50
Volatility indices
Used as an indication of market’s perception of risk
VIX
- weighted average of prices for a range of 30-day expiry put and call options on the S&P 500 index.
Equity indices for South Africa
FTSE/JSE Africa Index Series replaced JSE Actuaries - indices free float adjusted (based on market capitalisation previously)
FTSE/JSE Africa Headline indices comprising:
- FTSE/JSE ALSI (All Share Index)
- TOP 40
- Mid-cap index
- Small cap index
- Fledgling Index
Other indices published by JSE include:
- Sector and Sub-Sector Indices
- Secondary Market Indices
- Specialist Indices - SWIX, Style Indices, RAFI All-Share Index
Total Return Indices published end of each working day and are based on ex dividend adjustments.
International indices
- FTSE Global Equity Index series
- The FTSE Global Climate Index series
- Morgan Stanley Capital International indices
Morgan Stanley Capital International indices
Widely used series of international equity indices covering developed and emerging markets.
- calculated on market capitalisation weighted arithmetic basis
- total returns published gross and net of witholding tax
MSCI ACWI - free float adjusted market capitalisation weighted index
Fixed income indices
- FTSE Glits Index series
- FTSE Global Bond Index series
- Markit iBoxx fixed income indices
- Credit derivative indices
- South African bond indices