BPI launches new PHL equity indices

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) on Thursday launched three new Philippine equity indices to assess the performance of investment portfolios of fund managers and trust entities.

Among the indices launched are BPI Philippine Consumer Equity Index, BPI Philippine Infrastructure Equity Index, and BPI Philippine High Dividend Equity Total Return Index.

"These three new indices will complement the initial suite of eight market indicators BPI launched in April this year intended to reflect the performance of the Philippine equity and bond markets," BPI said.

The daily indices will be published on www.bpiindex.com.

To recall, the eight indicators launched earlier this year include BPI Philippine Government Bond Index, BPI Philippine Government Bond 1-3 Year Index, BPI Philippine Government Bond 1-5 Year Index, BPI Philippine Government Bond 5+ Year Index, BPI Philippine Government Liquid Bond Index, BPI Philippine Government Money Market Index, BPI Philippine Corporate Bond Index and the BPI Philippine Equity Total Return Index.

“The introduction of these three pioneering equity indices is a welcome development to the Philippine financial markets. We are expanding the BPI Index series to provide investors the ability to assess the Philippine stock market, through the lens of these popular investment themes,” Simon R. Paterno, Executive Vice President and Head of Financial Products and Services Group of BPI, said in the statement.

According to BPI, the Index series is part of its commitment to provide innovative financial solutions and tools to help its clients make informed financial decisions, and ultimately, grow their investments.

"The BPI Philippine Consumer Equity Index and the BPI Philippine Infrastructure Equity Index are intended to reflect the performances of the Consumer and Infrastructure sectors of the Philippine stock market, respectively," it said.

"Meanwhile, the BPI Philippine High Dividend Equity Total Return Index is a measure of the performance of listed and consistent dividend-paying Philippine companies," it added.

For his part, BPI Investment Management, Inc. (BIMI) President Ruben Enrique A. Espiritu said the indices will be a reference for investors in their decision making.

“The consumer and infrastructure sectors are considered to be the main pillars of growth and development for the Philippine economy. Hence, with the availability of these sector-specific indices, investors now have a readily available reference by which they can make investment decisions regarding their exposure, or the lack of it, in these sectors," he said.

"On the other hand, the dividend index will provide for a more transparent measurement of the performance of high-income generating stocks, crucial in this low interest rate environment,” he added. —JST, GMA News