BOGOTA, Colombia, May 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Bringing its hallmark traits of integrity, transparency, and independence to the Colombian financial markets, S&P Dow Jones Indices - one of the world's leading index providers and home to the iconic S&P 500® and Dow Jones Industrial Average™ - announced today the launch of the S&P Colombia Select Index.

The S&P Colombia Select Index is designed to provide investors with a means of measuring the largest and most liquid stocks domiciled in Colombia. The Index uses a modified market capitalization weighting scheme, providing investors with a broad, yet replicable index covering the Colombian equity market.

S&P Dow Jones Indices has licensed the S&P Colombia Select Index to an affiliate of Horizons ETFs Management (LATAM) LLC to serve as the basis for a forthcoming Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) based upon the Index.

"S&P Dow Jones Indices is excited to bring its world renowned skill in developing transparent, strongly governed, and representative stock market indices to Colombian investors," says Alka Banerjee, Managing Director and Head of Global Equity Indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "The S&P Colombia Select Index employs many of the traits commonly associated with our leading indices. It also provides investors with a means of measuring the largest and most liquid stocks headquartered in Colombia while reducing single stock and sector concentration within the Index."

"We have a strong business relationship globally with S&P Dow Jones Indices and are pleased to be able to offer their top-tier index strategies to Latin American investors," says Howard Atkinson, Managing Director of Horizons ETFs Management (LATAM) LLC. "With the S&P Colombia Select Index, S&P Dow Jones Indices has used their vast indexing credentials to develop a superior offering for Colombian investors that reduce the sector concentration risks that exist in the current Colombian stock market indexes."

The underlying universe for the S&P Colombia Select Index is all stocks in the S&P Colombia BMI that trade on the Colombia Stock Exchange (the Bolsa de Valores de Colombia or BVC) as domestic stocks. Among other criteria, stocks must also have a float adjusted market capitalization equal to or greater than US$ 200 million as of the rebalancing reference date.

To learn more about the S&P Colombia Select Index, please visit: www.spdji.com.

About S&P Dow Jones Indices
S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a part of McGraw Hill Financial, is the world's largest, global resource for index-based concepts, data and research. Home to iconic financial market indicators, such as the S&P 500® and the Dow Jones Industrial Average™, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC has over 115 years of experience constructing innovative and transparent solutions that fulfill the needs of investors. More assets are invested in products based upon our indices than any other provider in the world. With over 1,000,000 indices covering a wide range of asset classes across the globe, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC defines the way investors measure and trade the markets. To learn more about our company, please visit www.spdji.com. 

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SOURCE S&P Dow Jones Indices