Dow Jones Indexes and Brookfield Asset Manageme...
New indexes to serve as benchmarks for performance of infrastructure
securities worldwide
NEW YORK, NEW YORK and TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 14, 2008)
- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, and Brookfield
Asset Management Inc. (TSX: BAM)(NYSE: BAM)(AEX: BAM), a global asset
management company focused on property, power and infrastructure
assets, today announced the launch of the Dow Jones Brookfield
Infrastructure Indexes, a global index series designed to serve as
benchmarks of companies that are owners and operators of key
infrastructure assets such as toll roads, pipelines and ports. The
new index family includes a composite index and sub-indexes for four
regions and eight sectors.
The Dow Jones Brookfield Infrastructure Indexes includes benchmark
indexes to gauge active infrastructure portfolios as well as
blue-chip indexes that can underlie financial products.
"As the global infrastructure industry-which is the backbone for the
provision of essential products and services for the world economy -
continues to expand in response to increasing population and
demographic shifts, there is a greater demand among investment
professionals for high-quality benchmarks that accurately reflect
this burgeoning asset class. The Dow Jones Brookfield Infrastructure
Indexes can be used by institutional investors as measurement tools
to gauge the performance of their infrastructure portfolios. The
indexes also can be customized to meet the needs of market
participants who are interested in specific areas, such as
electricity transmission or toll road companies," said Michael A.
Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with an industry expert in Dow
Jones," said Kim G. Redding, head of Brookfield's infrastructure
securities platform.
"We believe this is an exciting time in the evolution of
infrastructure as an asset class. Investor interest and investment
opportunities have increased dramatically in recent years, fuelled by
the enormous need for infrastructure across the globe and shrinking
government budgets, the traditional source of funding for these
assets. From an investment perspective, infrastructure assets offer a
combination of predictable and growing cash flows, inflation-linked
revenue and a low correlation to traditional asset classes."
The new index series includes the Dow Jones Brookfield Global
Infrastructure Index, Dow Jones Brookfield Global Composite Index,
which includes master limited partnerships (MLPs); regional
sub-indexes for the Americas, Europe, Asia/Pacific and Global ex
U.S.; eight global sector sub-indexes, and the Dow Jones Brookfield
Infrastructure MLP Index, which tracks MLPs only.
To be eligible for inclusion in the Dow Jones Brookfield
Infrastructure Indexes, a company must have a minimum float-adjusted
market capitalization of US$500 million as well as a minimum
three-month average daily trading volume of US$1 million. Securities
also must be domiciled in a country with a liquid market listing.
More than 70% of cash flows must be derived from the development,
ownership, lease, concession or management of infrastructure assets
in the following sectors; airports, toll roads, ports,
communications, electricity transmission and distribution, oil and
gas storage/ transportation, and water. Also eligible are diversified
companies that derive at least 70 percent of their cash flow from
infrastructure assets as well as investment funds with a primary
focus toward infrastructure investments.
As of July 11, 2008, the 5-year performance of the Dow Jones
Brookfield Global Infrastructure Index is 15.05%.
The Dow Jones Brookfield Infrastructure Indexes are reviewed
quarterly in March, June, September and December. The indexes are
calculated in price and net total return, in U.S. dollars, euros,
Canadian dollars and Australian dollars. The Dow Jones Brookfield
Global Infrastructure Index is available in real time while
end-of-day data is available for the other Dow Jones Brookfield
Infrastructure Indexes. Estimated daily back-tested history is
available back to December 31, 2002.
For more information please visit
http://www.djbrookfieldinfrastructure.com.
The Dow Jones Brookfield Infrastructure Indexes were first published
on July 1, 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. Backtested performance does not
represent actual performance, and past performance is not indicative
of future results.
Journalists may e-mail questions regarding this press release to
PR-Indexes@dowjones.com or call one of the Dow Jones Indexes/STOXX
press offices:
New York: +1-212-597-5720
Frankfurt: +49-69-29725-290
Singapore: +65-6-4154-299
Hong Kong: + 852-800-969-336
Note to Editors:
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 61 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
(NYSE: NWS)(NYSE: NWS.A)(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.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc., focused on property, power and
infrastructure assets, has approximately $95 billion of assets under
management and is co-listed on the New York and Toronto Stock
Exchanges under the symbol BAM and on Euronext under the symbol BAMA.
For more information, please visit our web site at
www.brookfield.com.
Contacts:
Dow Jones Indexes/STOXX
New York: (212) 597-5720
Frankfurt: +49-69-29725-290
Singapore: +65-6-4154-299
Hong Kong: + 852-800-969-336
Email: PR-Indexes@dowjones.com