NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:BAM) (TSX:BAM.A) (Euronext:BAMA), a global asset management company focused on property, power and infrastructure assets, today announced the launch of an index that measures the highest-yielding stocks in the Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Composite Index.
"We've seen continued interest in infrastructure assets as a growing investment niche, along with the need for accurate measurement tools. The new Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Composite Yield Index takes a yield-oriented approach to measuring the performance of infrastructure companies. This focus makes the index a suitable benchmark for clients and market participants seeking the extra benefit of strong dividends in their infrastructure portfolios," said Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes.
"The appeal of global infrastructure securities lies in predictable and growing cash flows. The strength of these cash flows results in strong dividend components, which are particularly attractive to investors given the recent volatility in broader equity markets," said Craig Noble, managing director of Brookfield's global infrastructure securities platform.
The index universe is defined as all stocks in the Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Composite Index. Companies are ranked in descending order by indicated annual yield, and the top 70% of the stocks are selected as index components. The index is weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization. The weight of individual components is capped at 10% on a quarterly basis.
The Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Indexes measure the performance of companies that exhibit strong infrastructure characteristics. The index family includes a composite index, regional indexes for the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific and Global ex-U.S., and eight sector indexes for airports, communications, diversified, oil and gas storage and transportation, ports, toll roads, electricity transmission and distribution and water. Also included is the Dow Jones Brookfield Infrastructure MLP Index, which tracks master limited partnerships.
The Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Composite Yield Index is reviewed semi-annually in March and September. Index composition and weighting adjustments are also made on an as-needed basis to account for corporate actions such as delistings, bankruptcies, mergers or takeovers. Daily historical data for the Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Composite Yield Index is available back to December 31, 2002(1).
For more information on the Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Indexes, please visit www.djindexes.com.
(1) The Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Composite Yield Index was first published on October 13, 2009. All estimated daily historical closing prices prior to that date are based on back-testing (i.e., calculations of how the index might have performed in the past if it had existed). Backtested performance information is purely hypothetical and is solely for informational purposes. Backtested performance does not represent actual performance, and past performance is not indicative of future results.
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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
Dow Jones & Company (www.dowjones.com) is a News Corporation company (Nasdaq:NWS) (Nasdaq:NWSA) (ASX:NWS) (ASX:NWSLV) (www.newscorp.com). Dow Jones is a leading provider of global business news and information services. Its Consumer Media Group publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Its Enterprise Media Group includes Dow Jones Newswires, Dow Jones Factiva, Dow Jones Client Solutions, Dow Jones Indexes and Dow Jones Financial Information Services. Its Local Media Group operates community-based information franchises. Dow Jones owns 50% of SmartMoney and 33% of STOXX Ltd. and provides news content to radio stations in the U.S.
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Brookfield Asset Management Inc., is a global asset manager focused on property, renewable power and infrastructure assets with approximately $80 billion of assets under management. The company is publicly listed NYSE, TSX and Euronext Amsterdam under the symbol BAM, BAM.A and BAMA respectively. For more information, please visit our web site at www.brookfield.com.