NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Indxx LLC is pleased to announce the launch of the Indxx Global Agriculture Index (the “Index”). The Index has been licensed to noted Wheaton, Illinois-based ETF issuer First Trust Advisors L.P. for their exclusive use as the underlying benchmark for the First Trust Indxx Global Agriculture ETF, which began trading today (NASDAQ:FTAG). The ETF previously traded under a different symbol (NASDAQ:PLTM), and tracked a different underlying benchmark.
Indxx’s research division and numerous independent sources have projected significant increases in global populations and food demand in the coming decades. When combined with much smaller projected growth in the amount of arable land available for farming, Indxx’s research division believes that companies focused on improving agricultural yields could represent a unique and attractive area of investment focus.
“We at Indxx are excited to have developed this index for First Trust by using the cutting-edge capabilities of our research and analytics divisions to identify a unique trend and properly target it via an index-based approach,” said Rahul Sen Sharma, Partner at Indxx. “We look at it as another example of how we seek to distinguish ourselves as a custom index provider that adds value throughout the index development process.”
“As the global population continues to expand, the importance of companies involved in helping to make more efficient use of agricultural resources can’t be overstated,” said Ryan Issakainen, CFA, Senior Vice President and ETF Strategist at First Trust. “We believe this index represents an effective representation of this investment theme.”
The Index is a modified market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of companies which are directly or indirectly engaged in improving agricultural yields. The Index is comprised of farmland companies and firms involved in chemicals and fertilizers, seeds, irrigation equipment, and farm machinery, and is constructed based on market capitalization and liquidity of those companies’ shares.
The Index was backtested to March 23, 2007 with an original value of 1,000, and officially launched on June 9, 2015. There are three versions of the Index currently available, a price return version (ticker: IGAIP), total return version (ticker: IGAI) and net total return version (ticker: IGAINT). As of November 30, 2015, the Index included 45 securities with a weighted average market capitalization of $37.70 billion. These amounts are subject to change.
About Indxx
Founded in 2005, Indxx seeks to redefine the global indexing space. With offices in New York, London and New Delhi, the firm focuses on Index Development, Index Calculation, Analytics & Research and combines these services in a holistic, customized approach that is unique to the industry and provides maximum benefits to our clients.
For more information about Indxx or the Indxx Global Agriculture Index,
visit:
http://www.indxx.com/
