FAQ's

Please click on the topics below to learn more.

General
Do I need a license to launch a financial product linked to FTSE indices? You require a licence to launch any product whose performance is linked to the value of a particular index and for all use of the FTSE name or name of the index in the marketing of the product. Licence fees differ according to the type of product. For further information please visit the licenses section. What different data packages can I purchase from FTSE? The following services are available from FTSE: Index Valuation Service, Constituent Service and Tracker Service. Full details are available in the End of day packages section. How can I receive FTSE data? Please visit the Data Licenses section for full details. Can I receive monthly reports on FTSE indices? FTSE do provide monthly reports on a majority of the indices, for a full list and access please visit the FTSE Research Reports section How do I keep informed about changes to the FTSE Indices? All changes to FTSE indices are announced in the indicessection, which lists all, index series with an ‘Index Changes’ sub section. Alternatively, to be informed of changes via email, please send a message to us at info@ftse.com with ’Index Changes’ in the subject field. Please indicate the type of notices you wish to receive - UK, Europe, All-World Series or all). Please note that this email service is only available to FTSE clients. Where can I find information about FTSE product files? Visit the index specific product specification section in the indices section. Who reviews FTSE indices? FTSE Committees review the indices and ensure that they accurately reflect the market, remaining objective at all times. View the index governance in the index specific rules section. Are historical constituent lists available for the FTSE indices? For historical constituent lists, please contact FTSE Client Services. Does FTSE calculate the FT500? FTSE does NOT calculate the FT500; please contact the Financial Times directly.
FTSE Global Equity Indices
What is the difference between FTSE Global Equity Index Series and FTSE All World? FTSE GEIS includes small cap stocks whereas FTSE All World only covers Large and Mid Cap. Which countries are contained within the developed, advanced emerging and secondary emerging categories? Developed: Australia, Austria, Belgium/Luxembourg, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. Advanced emerging: Brazil, Hungary, Mexico, Poland, South Africa and Taiwan. Secondary emerging: Argentina, Chile, China, Columbia, Czech Republic, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Thailand and Turkey. How do I find out further information on the how indices are reviewed and managed? Please refer to the Index Reviews sub section under the relevant index in the indices section. Where can I find detailed information relating to the calculation of indices, the closing price and exchange rates? Please visit the index rules sub section under the relevant index in the indices section. Where can I find the dividend withholding tax rates used in FTSE indices? Please visit the index rules sub section under the relevant index in the indicessection. How do you convert an index from its base currency to another currency? FTSE calculates indices in their base currencies and then converts them into additional currencies i.e. yen and dollar values. To replicate a currency-converted index you need the base date of the index and the base currency of the index. Formula for replicating a currency-converted index: Index value in base currency = today's exchange rate* / exchange rate at base date * exchange between base currency and currency going to
Regional & Partner Indices
Who are FTSE's partners? Stock exchanges: Athens, Bursa Malaysia, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, NASDAQ, Nordic exchanges, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Tel Aviv and Thailand. Companies: APCIMS (UK), Conflict Securities, DIFX, EIRIS (UK), Hang Seng (Hong Kong), IDFC, IMPAX, Research Affiliates, Xinhua Finance (China) and Yasaar Ltd. How can I access constituent lists of FTSE UK indices i.e. FTSE 100? Please visit the constituents sub section under the relevant index in the indicessection. How do I find out the market cap, shares in issue and free-float weighting for UK constituents? If you are interested in receiving additional constituent data such as market cap, shares in issue, free float and weighting and classification, please contact your regional Salesoffice. Why does the FTSE 100 Index sometimes have more than 100 constituents in the index? The FTSE 100 has 100 companies in the index, but there may be more than one line of eligible stock for each company. What are private investor indices? These indices provide private investors, private client investment managers and trustees with a measure of performance against which to compare investment portfolios, based upon the assumption they are domestic investors with sterling denominated accounts. What are the different types of private investor indices? Growth Portfolio Index: The Growth Portfolio Index is designed to reflect the portfolio of a client requiring capital growth from his investment. Income Portfolio Index: The Income Portfolio Index is designed to reflect the portfolio of a client requiring an income flow from his investment. Balanced Portfolio Index: The Balanced Portfolio Index is designed to reflect the portfolio of a client requiring a balanced approach between income and capital growth in his portfolio. Note: Total Return Indices are calculated for each of the above portfolios. Where do I find the asset allocation for the FTSE APCIMS Private Investor Index Series? This information can be obtained from the FTSE APCIMS Private Investor indices Index Rules Appendix 1. Please note that the asset allocation has not changed since April 1st 1999, although this has been reviewed semi-annually since this date. What are the underlying indices of the FTSE APCIMS Private Investor Index Series? Please refer to section 3 of the Index Rules for FTSE APCIMS Private Investor indices.
FTSE Alternative Investment Indices
Why did FTSE launch a Hedge index? Hedge Funds have traditionally been a mixture of uncertainty and risk due to lack of regulation in the industry. The FTSE Hedge Index brings transparency and investibility to the hedge funds because of the screening process of over 6000 hedge funds on the database. This screening process brings credibility to the hedge fund universe. How are the eligible Hedge Funds selected for the index? The base universe consists of 6000 hedge funds from various databases and industry sources. These funds are classified into the strategic categories within the FTSE Hedge Index, which results in about 250 funds remaining. These funds are further screened, by mathematical sampling to ensure transparency, down to 75 funds. Finally, 40 hedge funds are selected by the committee for the index. How do we know that a fund constituent is what they say they are since the regulatory environment is weak? An outside firm, Harcourt an independent hedge fund consultant, performs a due diligent test on each index constituent. It is this process that ensures that the constituents of the FTSE Hedge Index series meet the rigorous requirements of the selection and eligibility process. This is what makes the index investible and reduces risk. What is the difference between the daily and monthly valuation product files? The availability of prices on these funds is delayed, on average, by three days; therefore our daily product is normally for three days prior i.e. Thursday's file is for Monday's data. The values we get are considered indicative on a daily basis and therefore our daily valuation products are considered an indicative index at all times.
FTSE Fixed Income Indices
How is the FTSE Global Bond Index Series calculated? The capital index (price index) is an arithmetically weighted index based on the clean price of the issues and weighted by nominal amount outstanding of the bond issues. The total return index takes account of the price of the bond, any interest that the bond accrues and payments of each bond, which are reinvested in the index. This is arithmetically weighted and also based on the nominal amount outstanding. In addition to the price, index values and nominal amount outstanding FTSE also calculate and publish gross redemption yield, duration, modified duration and convexity amongst others. FTSE Actuaries UK Gilts indices are calculated using a different methodology. View the Guide to Calculation within the Index Rulessection for more information. What is the FTSE Global Bond Index Series universe? Currently FTSE provide indices that cover the global government, euro and sterling corporate, euro emerging and the European Pfandbrief sectors. View the Global Bond brochure for current coverage information. FTSE Actuaries UK Gilts index coverage is UK Government Bonds only. What is the minimum nominal amount outstanding for inclusion in the bond indices? This varies depending on the country to which the bond is domiciled or the sector to which the bond is issued. View the Global Bond Index Series Brochure for further information. Which bonds are eligible for inclusion in the bond indices? All straight bullet bonds denominated in the appropriate currency and issued by qualified issuers, maturing in one year or more, are eligible for inclusion in the FTSE Global Bond Index Series. Bonds that are ineligible include floating rate notes, partly paid bonds, bonds with embedded options, convertible bonds and bonds with no redemption date. In the UK, the Debt Management Office (DMO) decides on bonds that are ineligible from inclusion in the indices. Please note that some of the types of ineligible bonds in the Global Bond index Series are included in the FTSE UK Actuaries Gilts Indices. When are the bond indices rebalanced? The indices are rebalanced monthly. Any bonds that are eligible for inclusion, bond nominal amount changes and exclusions from the index take place at the close of the last business day of the month. Changes to the FTSE Actuaries UK Gilts indices take place throughout the month, on the effective date of change.
Non-Market Capitalisation Weighted Indices
Why did FTSE launch non - market cap weighted indices? We wanted to offer the market an alternative to wealth weighted indices and created non-market cap weighted indices to offer our clients a greater choice in market measurement. What is the difference between market cap weighted indices and non-market cap weighted indices? The stocks within market cap weighted indices are selected according to market capitalisation (price x number of shares x free float) whereas stock in non-market cap weighted indices are selected according to a factors dependent upon fundamental data such as: book price, cash flow, revenue, sales, income and dividends.