(June 27 – 11:55 ET) – Merrill Lynch today launched an Australian Broad Market Index that tracks investment grade Australian dollar denominated debt of sovereign, quasi-government and corporate issuers domiciled in investment grade countries.
The new Index currently includes 122 bonds having a total capitalization in excess of A$132 billion.
“The Merrill Lynch Australian Broad Market Index offers a comprehensive view of the Australian market coupled with extensive analytics — all presented on a completely transparent platform that is easily accessible to all investors,” Phil Galdi, managing director of the firm’s fixed-income quantitative analysis and portfolio strategy group, said in a press release.
The Australian index, together with comparable indices for the U.S., Canada, Pan-Europe and Japan, will be included in a soon-to-be-launched Merrill Lynch Global Broad Market Index.
The Austalian index is “rules-based,” meaning that bonds must meet a defined list of criteria to be included. Qualifying bonds must have at least one year remaining term to maturity, a fixed-coupon schedule and a minimum amount outstanding of A$1 billion for the direct sovereign debt of the Commonwealth of Australia, A$100 million for all other securities. Also, bonds must be rated investment grade based on a composite of Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.