STOXX Launches First Dividend Index For ASEAN Region

STOXX Limited, the market-moving provider of innovative, tradable and global index concepts, introduced 26 September the STOXX ASEAN-Five Select Dividend 50 Index. The new index selects the 50 highest dividend paying companies from five member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It is the first dividend index for the ASEAN region. The STOXX ASEAN-Five Select Dividend 50 Index is specifically designed to underlie exchange-traded funds and other investable products.

“The ASEAN region is among the most dynamic ones in the world. According to the OECD, ASEAN GDP is estimated to grow 5.5% annually, on average, from 2013 to 2017,“ said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX Limited. “The STOXX ASEAN-Five Select Dividend 50 Index is aimed at market participants who believe in the long-term growth of this region and at the same time want to participate from the dividend return of the region’s top dividend yielding companies. We are pleased to be the first index provider to offer such a concept.”

The STOXX ASEAN-Five Select Dividend 50 Index comprises 50 companies with high dividend payments from the following five ASEAN member states: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. To be eligible for inclusion in the new index, a company must be a component of the STOXX Asia Total Market Index, have an average daily trading volume (ADTV) of at least 1.5 million US dollar over the last three months at the time of selection and a dividend pay-out ratio of 80% or less. All stocks that meet these criteria are ranked by their 12 month historical dividend yield, and the top 50 are selected for inclusion in the index. REITs companies are excluded from the index. To prevent the index being dominated by one country, the maximum number of companies that can be included per country is 15. Furthermore, components’ weights are capped at 10%.

The STOXX ASEAN-Five Select Dividend 50 Index is weighted by free-float market capitalization and calculated in price, net return and gross return versions. The index is available in Euro, US dollar and Japanese yen. The index is reviewed annually in March and rebalanced quarterly. Daily historical data is available back to March 22, 2004.