Standard & Poors and TSX Group have announced plans to create the first real-time global gold index. Based in Canada, the new Index will track key gold mining companies from around the globe.
The new S&P/TSX Global Gold Index will be available by the end of 2006. Once launched, the Index will serve as a global benchmark for gold portfolios and for the development of index-linked investment vehicles.
With gold prices soaring and increased interest in this asset class, real-time information on the worlds gold securities is extremely valuable and important, said Steve Rive, vice president of Canadian Index Services at Standard & Poors. The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index will be designed to be both investable and broadly representative of the investment opportunities available in the global gold marketplace.
TSX Group is home to approximately 60% of the world’s public mining companies and Canada has the world’s largest mining analyst community that covers issuers on both Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange.
“Our exchanges have become the world’s leading markets for raising equity capital for mining and as a result we attract numerous international mining participants,” said Richard Nesbitt, CEO of TSX Group. “Of the over 8,500 projects being undertaken by mining companies that we list, nearly a third are outside of North America.”