SGX cuts the ribbon on new index business in Asia

Beta launches last year were successful.

The local bourse floored the gas pedal on its goal of building a regional index business, as it launched SGX Index Edge, its newest index business that aims to satiate the growing demand for index services in Asia.
Singapore Exchange aims to bank on its leading infrastructure and mastery of the region in order to develop its new index business.

According to a statement by SGX, their branded indices will provide better transparency and present their securities and derivatives markets to investors, helping them to make better investment decisions.

“As Asia’s most international exchange and a leading market infrastructure for investors across Asia, we are in a unique position to develop Asia-focused index capabilities, as a natural extension of SGX’s existing suite of products and services,” said Loh Boon Chye, SGX CEO.

SGX has also tested the waters on future-indices tailored for product issuers of Exchange-Traded Notes (ETNs), OTC (Over-the-Counter) products and retail structured products.

Just recently, SGX became the first exchange in Asia to be a member of the Index Industry Association.

“Offering index services to diversify the market data business is common amongst exchanges. It helps us in attracting new institutional channels that are increasingly turning towards index-linked investment solutions for their investors. While we will create SGX branded indices, we will also continue to grow our strong partnerships with global index providers to further our reach and expertise for both our securities and derivatives markets.” said Tinku Gupta, SGX head of market data and connectivity.