NEW YORK, March 13, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced the launch of the Dow Jones - AIG Platinum Sub-Index(sm), the Dow Jones - AIG Lead Sub-Index(sm) and the Dow Jones - AIG Tin Sub-Index(sm). Dow Jones Indexes jointly markets the Dow Jones - AIG Commodity Indexes(sm) (DJ-AIGCI(sm)) with AIG Financial Products Corp. (AIG-FP), a leader in financial derivatives products and a wholly-owned subsidiary of American International Group, Inc. (AIG).
The new single commodity sub-indexes have been licensed to ETF Securities Limited, a London-based provider of exchange-traded commodities (ETCs). The already existing Dow Jones - AIG Cocoa Sub-Index(sm) has also been licensed to ETF Securities. The four new ETCs will be listed today on the London Stock Exchange.
The new Dow Jones - AIG Single Commodity Sub-Indexes are constructed according to the rules of the DJ-AIG Commodity Index and are added to the already existing 20 Dow Jones - AIG Single Commodity Sub-Indexes for aluminum, coffee, copper, corn, cotton, crude oil, gold, heating oil, lean hogs, live cattle, natural gas, nickel, silver, soybeans, soybean oil, sugar, unleaded gasoline, wheat, zinc and cocoa.
While platinum, lead and tin are eligible for the Dow Jones - AIG Commodity Index, they currently are not included in the index, since they do not surpass the minimum weight (a combination of futures-trading volume and global production) required for inclusion. Excess and total return versions for all 23 single commodity sub-indexes are available.
The Dow Jones - AIG Commodity Index is a diversified and highly liquid benchmark for the commodities markets. It is composed of futures contracts on 19 physical commodities and was introduced in 1998. The DJ-AIG Commodity Index and related sub-indexes are calculated daily by Dow Jones Indexes and AIG Financial Products Corp.
As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2007, there is an estimated $42 billion invested in financial products tracking the DJ-AIGCI, out of a total of approximately $155 billion tracking commodities using long only index strategies. Index methodology and futures contracts used to calculate the index are published in the DJ-AIGCI Handbook. The handbook can be requested via www.djindexes.com or www.aigfp.com.
As of March 12, 2008, the one-year performance for the Dow Jones - AIG Platinum Sub-Index(sm) is 66.20%, 67.93% for the Dow Jones - AIG Lead Sub-Index(sm), 39.99% for the Dow Jones - AIG Tin Sub-Index(sm), and 43.46% for the Dow Jones - AIG Cocoa Sub-Index(sm).(1)
Further information on the Dow Jones - AIG Commodity Indexes is available at www.djindexes.com.
Journalists may e-mail questions regarding this press release to PR-Indexes@dowjones.com or contact Dow Jones Indexes/STOXX press office:
New York: +1-212-597-5720 Frankfurt: +49-69-29-725-290
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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, and together with Wilshire Associates, provides the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Index family, which is anchored by the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 and covers more than 12,000 securities in 59 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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(1) The new Dow Jones-AIG Single Commodity Sub-Indexes for platinum, lead and tin were first published on March 13, 2008. 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. Back-tested performance information is purely hypothetical and is solely for informational purposes. It does not represent actual performance, and past performance is not indicative of future results.