Products March 6, 2002

S&P Launches ADR Index

June 3, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Standard & Poor's has launched a new index for American Depository Receipts (ADRs) that will allow institutional investors to better track performance.
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The S&P ADR index should allow active managers of international portfolios to benchmark their performance, while also supporting the ability of portfolio managers to build a passive portfolio of US exchange-listed securities, S&P said in a press release.

The index includes all foreign-domiciled companies that are members of the S&P Global 1200 Index and that have eligible equity-linked instruments listed on a US exchange.

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Eligible US listings include any one of the following:

  • Level II or Level II ADR
  • global share
  • ordinary share, in the case of Canadian equities.

The index is market-cap weighted with all pricing and valuation taken from the US exchange with the primary listing. At launch, the index includes 261 securities from 26 markets.

As additional S&P Global 1200 companies list eligible securities on US exchanges, these securities will be added to the index, S&P said in the announcement.

The top 10 ADR constituents listed in order of weighting:

  • BP plc
  • GlaxoSmithKline plc
  • Novartis AG
  • HSBC Holdings plc
  • Royal Dutch Petroleum Company 
  • Vodafone Group
  • TotalFinaElf SA  
  • AstraZeneca
  • Nokia Oyj
  • Shell Transport & Trading Company             

S&P built the new ADR Index in consultation with JP Morgan, the announcement said.

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