The Bermuda Insurance Index will track the performance of the leading publicly traded, international insurance companies based in Bermuda. Although some of these companies are currently listed outside of Bermuda all the companies in the index have their management and intellectual capital based on the island.
Once it is launched the index will facilitate performance comparisons between insurance companies which operate in the tax free environment of Bermuda with those based in the USA and Europe. It is intended that the new index will be tradeable in the form of an index options contract. This will enable investors to invest in the offshore insurance market in one transaction.
Mark Makepeace, Managing Director of FTSE International stated "We have had considerable success in creating indices which raise the profile of markets and on which derivatives and index linked products are based. This is helped by our unique philosophy for creating indices in partnership with market regulators and investors, ensuring independence and transparency. The new Bermuda Insurance Index will follow this philosophy."
William Woods, CEO of The BSX stated "We are delighted to be working with FTSE International to develop this timely and highly focused benchmark for the Bermuda insurance market".
Notes for Editors
FTSE International manages and develops equity and bond indices, including all those that its parents, the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times, had developed over the years. FTSE's range of international indices are extensively used by investment managers around the world for analysis, performance measurement, benchmarking, asset allocation and as the basis for index tracking funds. The best known, the UK's FTSE 100 is also heavily used in derivative trading. FTSE International recently introduced a new index for the Athens Stock Exchange, the FTSE/ASE Index, also designed for derivatives trading.
The BSX is the world's premier offshore, fully electronic stock exchange, with over 150 listed securities and a market capitalization of over $37 million (excluding mutual funds). The following international insurance companies are currently listed on The BSX: ACE Limited, EXEL Limited and Mutual Risk Management Limited.
For more information on FTSE International contact Alistair Herbert on 44-171-448-1831 or e- mail aherbert@ftse.com. Alternatively please visit http://www.ftse.com
For more information on The BSX contact Robin McPhee on 1-441-292-7212 or e-mail info@bsx.com. Alternatively please visit http://bsx.com