NEW YORK, Oct. 26, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced that the Canadian dollar-hedged version of the Dow Jones Developed Markets ex-North America Index and Dow Jones Emerging Markets Total Stock Market Specialty Index have been licensed to BMO Financial Group in connection with the BMO Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
This is the first time the Dow Jones Developed Markets ex-North America Index and Dow Jones Emerging Markets Total Stock Market Specialty Index will serve as the indexes for ETFs. The new BMO ETFs are available today on the Toronto Stock Exchange and will be managed and administered by Jones Heward Investment Counsel Inc., a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Bank of Montreal.
"As the global economic recovery continues, market participants are seeking reliable and transparent indexes to underlie their passive investment options. Based on the broad and trusted Dow Jones Emerging Markets Total Stock Market Specialty Index and Dow Jones Developed Markets ex-North America Index, the two ETFs by BMO Financial Group will give Canadian investors exposure to international stocks in either developed or emerging economies outside of North America," said Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes.
The Dow Jones Developed Markets ex-North America Index measures the performance of companies in 23 countries classified as developed economies, excluding the United States and Canada. The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Total Stock Market Specialty Index seeks to capture the performance of equities with readily available prices in 43 emerging market countries, including Cyprus, Malta, Slovenia, South Korea and Taiwan. The Dow Jones Developed Markets ex-North America Index belongs to the Dow Jones Global Indexes while the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Total Stock Market Specialty Index belongs to the Dow Jones Total Stock Market family of benchmarks. Both indexes reflect approximately 95% of the float-adjusted market capitalization of each country.
As of October 25, 2009, the Dow Jones Developed Markets ex-North America Index is up 29.89% for the year while the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Total Stock Market Specialty Index gained 73.17% year to date.
The Dow Jones Developed ex-North America Index and Dow Jones Emerging Markets Total Stock Market Specialty Index are weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization and reviewed on a quarterly basis in March, June, September and December.
More information can be found on www.djindexes.com.
Journalists may e-mail questions regarding this press release to PR-Indexes@dowjones.com.
About Dow Jones Indexes
A full-service index provider, Dow Jones Indexes 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 also is co-owner of the Dow Jones STOXX indexes, the world's leading pan-European indexes that are an integrated segment of the Dow Jones Global Index series. Additionally, Dow Jones Indexes maintains its benchmark index series, the Dow Jones Total Stock Market Indexes, which is anchored by the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index and covers more than 12,000 securities in 65 markets. Beyond equity indexes, Dow Jones Indexes maintains a number of alternative indexes, including measures of the hedge fund and commodity markets. Dow Jones indexes are maintained according to clear, unbiased and systematic methodologies that are fully integrated within index families. www.djindexes.com
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