Standard & Poor's Launches S&P/TSX Equal Weight Index Suite

TORONTO , Oct. 19 /CNW/ - Standard & Poor's, the world's leading index provider, announced today the launch of the S&P/TSX Equal Weight Index Suite. The new index suite includes the S&P/TSX Equal Weight Global Base Metals CAD Hedged Index, the S&P/TSX Equal Weight Diversified Banks Index and the S&P/TSX Equal Weight Oil & Gas Index.

"Equal-weighted indices provide additional options to investors," says Jasmit Bhandal, director at Standard & Poor's Canada . "Designed to meet investors need for benchmarking, investing and trading strategies that require a size-neutral index, the equal weight indices have weighting and rebalancing processes that lead to different return and risk profiles when compared with market capitalization weighted indices."

The S&P/TSX Equal Weight Global Base Metals CAD Hedged Index is the equal-weighted and Canadian Dollar hedged version of the S&P/TSX Global Base Metals Index, a benchmark of securities involved in the production or extraction of base metals, and a subset of the S&P/TSX Global Mining Index.

The S&P/TSX Equal Weight Diversified Banks Index is the equal-weighted version of the S&P/TSX Diversified Banks Index, a benchmark including commercial banks whose businesses are derived primarily from commercial lending and operations and also have significant activity in retails banking and small and medium corporate lending. Eligible securities for the index are members of the S&P/TSX Composite Index and classified under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) subindustry Diversified Banks.

The S&P/TSX Equal Weight Oil & Gas Index provides investors with a portfolio of securities involved in the oil and gas industry. Eligible securities are members of the S&P/TSX 60 and are classified under the following GICS subindustries: Oil & Gas Drilling, Oil & Gas Equipment & Services, Integrated Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing, and Oil & Gas Storage and Transportation.

For additional information on our complete line-up of S&P/TSX Indices, including methodology, please visit: www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

About Standard & Poor's Index Services

Standard & Poor's Index Services, the world's leading index provider, maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Over $1 trillion is directly indexed to Standard & Poor's family of indices, which includes the S&P 500, the world's most followed stock market index, the S&P Global 1200, a composite index comprised of seven regional and country headline indices, the S&P Global BMI, an index with approximately 11,000 constituents, and the S&P GSCI, the industry's most closely watched commodities index. For more information, please visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

About Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor's, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With offices in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for nearly 150 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com

For further information: Jasmit Bhandal, [phone], Director of Business Development, S&P Canada, [email protected]; David Guarino, [phone], Communications, S&P New York, [email protected]