22/05/2015 – The Oslo Børs Mid Cap Index covers an important segment of the market and will be the first index to include both equity certificates and shares.The new index for medium-sized companies, the Oslo Børs Mid Cap Index (OSEMX), will be launched on 1 June 2015. Companies with a market capitalisation of between NOK 1 billion and NOK 15 billion will be eligible for inclusion.
“This is an important segment on Oslo Børs, and there is demand in the market for an index of this type. We are including equity certificates issued by savings banks and shares in the same index for the first time. Equity certificates are popular with many investors and funds, and we want this new index to help increase the visibility of these securities”, comments Bente A. Landsnes.
Suitable for funds
The index will be an investable index, which means that it will be easy to buy and sell the shares and equity certificates included in the index on the market. This is of crucial important for mutual funds and other market participants that wish to use the index as a benchmark index.
It is therefore a requirement that securities included in the index have to be liquid securities that have been traded on at least nine out of every ten days during the six months prior to the composition of the index being decided.
Good returns
Over the last two years the index for medium-sized companies has risen more rapidly than the OBX Index, which measures the share price performance of the largest companies listed on Oslo Børs. Market data has been calculated for the new index back to 3 June 2013, with the starting value set at 100 on this date. The Oslo Børs Mid Cap Index increased by 31% between 31 May 2013 and 19 May 2015, while the OBX Index increased by 29.7% over the same period.
Historical data has shown that large and medium-sized companies do not always move in step. The most liquid shares in the largest companies generally attract the greatest attention during the initial phase of an upswing in the stock market. Small and medium-sized companies then receive more attention, and shares in these companies have often been seen to rise even more strongly.
The figures below show that the last two years have been very good for large, medium and small companies listed on Oslo Børs (OSEMX = Oslo Børs Mid Cap Index; OSESX = Oslo Børs Small Cap Index; OSEAX = Oslo Børs All-share Index):
77 companies in the index
A total of 77 companies will be included in the new index from 1 June. These companies represent approximately 20% of the total market capitalisation of the companies listed on Oslo Børs.
The six equity certificates included in the index represent close to five percent of the total market capitalisation of companies included in the index, and this helps to make financial services the second largest industry in the index, after energy. SpareBank 1 SR-Bank and Entraare amongst the largest companies included in the index, as are the seafood companies SalMarand Lerøy.
The composition of the index will be assessed every six months on the basis of companies’ market capitalisations on the final trading days in April and October, with changes implemented on the first trading days in June and December.
> The complete composition of the index and the relative weightings can be viewed here: http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/
The index is divided between the following sectors in terms of the market capitalisation of the constituent companies:
