MARKIT, DOW JONES INDEXES AND FTSE GROUP ANNOUNCE ICB AGREEMENT TO PROVIDE INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION CODES FOR CREDIT MARKETS
London 18 July, 2005 – Markit Group Limited (“Markit”), the leading industry source for independent mark-to-market pricing, asset valuations, dividend forecasting and index services, today announced it is to adopt the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB), a joint product of Dow Jones Indexes and FTSE Group (FTSE). ICB will be implemented for use within Markit’s entire range of entities, across all asset classes.
The ICB sector classifications are a four-tier hierarchical industry classification structure centred on a rules-based methodology for placing entities within sectors.
Markit will work closely with ICB to provide classifications for the entire universe of around 5,000 credit default swap reference entities and bond issuing entities, which will enhance ICB’s existing coverage of approximately 40,000 equities. Markit will also incorporate the ICB sectors within its equity index feeds, which will be offered on a pass-through basis to end users.
Markit’s Reference Entity Database (RED) already provides the industry standard reference entity names, reference obligations and codes used throughout the credit default swap markets. This partnership will ensure that each entity is further classified under ICB guidelines, providing a four-tier classification structure.
Tom McNerney, Managing Director and Head of Analytics at Markit said, “ICB’s classification process provides a comprehensive structure which will enhance our customers’ ability to build diverse and more accurate credit indices and portfolios. Our input will ensure that entities within the credit markets are correctly classified from an economic perspective.”
James Cemprola, Managing Director of ICB said, “We are delighted to be working with Markit, who will now enable us to apply ICB classifications for the global credit markets. Our users will have the additional comfort of knowing that all the entities in our database match the underlying RED codes.”
For further information, please contact:
Markit
Teresa Chick
Marketing and Communications Manager
Tel: +44 (0)20 7890 5094
Email: teresa.chick@markit.com
Dow Jones Indexes
Frankfurt
Simona Deckers or Nicole Wesch
Tel: +49 69 971428-93/-94
New York
Sybille Reitz
Tel: +1 212 597 5735
Email: pr-indexes@dowjones.com
FTSE Group
London
Sandra Steel
Tel: +44 207 448 1821
Email: media@ftse.com
New York
Lynne Sims
Tel: +1 212 641 6168
Email: lynne.sims@ftse.com
About Markit
Markit is the leading industry source for asset valuation data and services supporting independent price verification and risk management in global financial and energy markets. Founded in 2001, the company is an independent enterprise with which the world’s leading financial institutions and energy traders work strategically to create price transparency. Today, Markit enjoys the sponsorship of 13 financial institutions who manage assets in excess of $10 trillion, and data contribution relationships with over 50 dealing firms. Markit has designed, launched and acquired over 20 financial data services which are now used by over 300 institutions globally. Areas of product expertise and service include an independent valuation perspective on OTC derivatives (credit, equity, FX, rates, energy, power, metals and structured products), corporate bonds, syndicated loans, dividend forecasting and index and ETF management. For more information about Markit, see www.markit.com
About Dow Jones Indexes
Dow Jones Indexes is a premier global provider of investable indexes, including the Dow Jones Averages, the Dow Jones Global Titans 50, the Dow Jones Asian Titans 50, the Dow Jones Sector Titans, the Dow Jones Country Titans Indexes and is co-owner of the Pan-European Dow Jones STOXX Indexes. Dow Jones Indexes is part of Dow Jones & Company, which publishes the world's most vital business and financial news and information.
In addition to Dow Jones Indexes, Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ; dowjones.com) publishes The Wall Street Journal and its international and online editions, Barron's and the Far Eastern Economic Review, Dow Jones Newswires and the Ottaway group of community newspapers. Dow Jones is co-owner with Reuters Group of Factiva, with Hearst of SmartMoney and with NBC Universal of the CNBC television operations in Asia and Europe. Dow Jones also provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.
About FTSE Group
FTSE Group is a world-leader in the creation and management of indices. With offices in London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Madrid, Paris, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, FTSE Group services clients in 77 countries worldwide. It calculates and manages the FTSE Global Equity Index series, which includes world-recognised indices ranging from the FTSE All-World Index, the FTSE4Good series and the recently launched FTSEurofirst Index series, as well as domestic indices such as the prestigious FTSE 100. The company has collaborative arrangements with the Athens, Cyprus, Euronext, Johannesburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid and NASDAQ exchanges, as well as with Xinhua Financial Network of China.
FTSE indices are used extensively by investors world-wide for investment analysis, performance measurement, asset allocation, portfolio hedging and for creating a wide range of index tracking funds. Independent committees of senior fund managers, derivatives experts, actuaries and other experienced practitioners review all changes to the indices to ensure that they are made objectively and without bias. Real-time FTSE indices are calculated on systems managed by Reuters. Reuters also supplies prices and FX rates used in the index calculations.
About the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB)
ICB is the new global solution for industry classification. A joint effort of FTSE Group (FTSE) and Dow Jones Indexes, ICB is a comprehensive system for sector and industry analysis, facilitating the comparison of companies across four levels of classification. The system is supported by the ICB global database which contains over 40,000 companies and 45,000 securities worldwide. For more information about ICB, visit www.icbenchmark.com. Fore more information about FTSE, visit www.ftse.com; for more information about Dow Jones Indexes, visit www.djindexes.com |