NEW YORK and MADRID, Spain, Sept. 28, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dow Jones Indexes and BBVA have jointly launched the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Indexes series, which initially includes two market gauges each designed to measure the stock performance of 50 leading companies in emerging and growth-leading economies (EAGLEs), the two organizations announced today.
With projected GDP growth the primary factor considered, EAGLEs is defined as those economies whose contributions to world growth over the next 10 years are expected to match or exceed those of the six largest developed economies, excluding the U.S. According to BBVA Research, the world's GDP will grow more than USD 41 trillion over the next decade (adjusted by purchasing power parity), from which the EAGLEs' contribution will exceed 50%; G7 growth will only reach 14%.
The new indexes include the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Index and the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Optimized Index. By limiting the universe of represented markets, the latter gauge is designed to enhance the liquidity of the derivatives linked to the EAGLEs concept.
A Dynamic Concept
Constructed as a dynamic concept, EAGLEs countries are annually updated in the indexes based on evolving economic performance and conditions as reflected in BBVA Research forecasts. EAGLEs is not a closed group, nor is it linked to an acronym formed by a given set of countries; rather, its process allows for identifying key economies in the emerging markets universe, while warning about potential "fallen angels" in advance. Moreover, EAGLEs country selection is based on a time horizon -- 10 years -- that is shorter than most other country groups and more relevant for most investment decisions.
Countries currently represented in the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Indexes include China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, Brazil, Russia, Turkey and Egypt.
"The Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Indexes series offers representation of a unique set of emerging markets that are poised for growth," said Michael A. Petronella, President, Dow Jones Indexes. "And, the EAGLEs' dynamic country concept offers flexibility in dealing with emerging economies, unlike a static index which can find itself too exposed to country risk."
Ricardo Laiseca, head of BBVA Global Markets, said: "The creation of the EAGLEs indexes is an important part of BBVA's goal to develop and distribute innovative financial products. By placing liquidity and access to economies with the highest growth potential at its core, these dynamic indexes are specifically designed to address the needs of emerging markets' investors."
Clearly Defined Parameters
The EAGLEs concept also is more objective due to clearly defined parameters which state each country's expected incremental GDP over the next 10 years must be greater than the one anticipated for the average of the G6 economies.
The indexes include only U.S., E.U. and Hong Kong listings, with the aim of enhancing their liquidity and easing their replication by foreign investment firms. The indexes represent only the largest companies in the represented countries, and stocks must pass liquidity screens to be eligible for the index. Companies are selected and weighted to reflect the GDP-based EAGLEs country weightings. Company weights are restricted based on their liquidity.
For more details on the index methodology, please click here for the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Index and here for the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Optimized Index.
Note to Editors:
About BBVA
BBVA is a global financial services group with approximately €550 billion in total assets, 47 million clients, 7,400 branches and 107,000 employees in more than 30 countries. BBVA provides its customers with a full range of innovative financial products and services. The BBVA Group maintains a leadership position in Spain, Mexico, Latin America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States. BBVA is also developing strong operations in Asia, specifically in China, and recently entered the Turkish market with a strategic stake in Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, the leading bank in Turkey.
As of December 2010, BBVA had a market capitalization of €34 billion and it is listed on the primary international stock exchanges including London, NYSE and Madrid. BBVA reported recurrent attributable profit of €4.6 billion in 2010 and ranks among the leading Euro zone banks in terms of ROE and efficiency.
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About Dow Jones Indexes
Dow Jones Indexes (www.djindexes.com) is a leading full-service index provider that develops, maintains and licenses indexes for use as benchmarks and as the basis of investment products. Best-known for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones Indexes offers more than 130,000 equity indexes as well as fixed-income and alternative indexes, including measures of hedge funds, commodities and real estate. Dow Jones Indexes employs clear, unbiased and systematic methodologies that are fully integrated within index families. Dow Jones Indexes is part of a joint venture company owned 90 percent by CME Group Inc. (www.cmegroup.com) and 10 percent by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (www.dowjones.com), a News Corporation company (Nasdaq:NWS) (Nasdaq:NWSA) (ASX:NWS) (ASX:NWSLV) (www.newscorp.com).
Calculation of the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Index and the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Optimized Index began on September 9, 2011. Real index history is available daily from this date forward. Back-tested historical data have been calculated daily back to December 31, 2007, the date at which the index base value is set at 1000.
Back-tested performance information is purely hypothetical and is solely for informational purposes. Back-tested performance does not represent actual performance, and past performance is not indicative of future results.
"Dow Jones®", "Dow Jones Indexes", "Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Index", "Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Optimized Index" and all other index names listed above are service marks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC ("Dow Jones"), and have been licensed for use by CME Group Index Services LLC ("CME Indexes"). Investment products based on the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Index and the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Optimized Index are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Dow Jones, CME Indexes or their respective affiliates and none of Dow Jones, CME Indexes and their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. Inclusion of a company in the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Index and the Dow Jones BBVA EAGLEs Optimized Index does not in any way reflect an opinion of Dow Jones, CME Indexes or any of their respective affiliates on the investment merits of such company. None of Dow Jones, CME Indexes or any of their respective affiliates is providing investment advice in connection with these indexes.
The Dow Jones Indexes logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=1289