JPMorgan has launched its first depositary receipt index program with a dozen indexes designed to provide retail and institutional investors with new benchmarks for global equity performance.
JPMorgan's 12 new indexes are comprised of exchange-listed and traded American depositary receipts (ADRs) and global depositary receipts (GDRs). The six regional, three sector and three composite indexes are calculated real-time by Standard & Poor's and provide price return, as well as total return including dividend yield information. The indexes, which are the intellectual property of JPMorgan, are available through all major market data vendors and by using the JPDX prefix on Bloomberg. Standard & Poor's provides the real-time daily calculation for these custom indexes.
"This is JPMorgan's first depositary receipt index program and we have designed these indexes to satisfy the growing demand for global investment products. Retail and institutional investors can now benchmark the performance of their international equity holdings against our indexes," says Claudine Cardillo-Rivot, global head of JPMorgan's depositary receipt business. "These indexes also provide investment opportunities for institutional investors and fund managers who are looking at developing new structured products."
The indexes offer exposure to a broad range of companies in a variety of desirable sectors and markets. They are designed to be highly transparent to the investment community with rigorous screens to ensure their integrity. The indexes feature only highly liquid programs to ensure relevance and reliability.
"The calculation of these 12 new indexes exemplifies Standard & Poor's ability to independently calculate real-time, custom solutions across all sectors and regions of the world," says Tim Eisenhauer, senior director at Standard & Poor's index services. "Through this agreement, Standard & Poor's custom index group will be the calculator behind JPMorgan's depositary receipt index program which is expected to serve as the underlying basis of future structured products."