(New York, NY) - FTSE Group (FTSE), the leading global index provider, has licensed Pro-Financial Asset Management to create a new mutual fund for the Canadian marketplace based on the FTSE Custom North American Dividend Index. The index was designed and built by FTSE Custom for Pro-Financial according to their unique specifications. Pro-Financial has issued five other funds based on standard FTSE RAFI™ Indexes, including the:
Beginning with a starting universe of constituents in the FTSE RAFI™ US 1000 and the FTSE RAFI™ Canada Index, FTSE Custom applied a screening methodology to focus the FTSE Custom North American Dividend index on securities with the highest forecasted dividend yields. Constituents within the index are also equally weighted to promote representation of Canadian companies, which tend to have lower market capitalization than US companies.
Data at October 29th, 2010 showed that the Custom index had a dividend yield of 4.59% as compared with the FTSE North America Index, a cap-weighted counterpart which posted a dividend yield of 1.95%. The index has also outperformed FTSE North America Index on a total return basis over the 3-year, 12-month, year-to-date, 6- and 30 month periods.
“We are pleased to have designed this new custom index for Pro-Financial,” Nayan Acharya, Custom Specialist Manager, FTSE Group. “As investors, asset managers, and fund providers seek increasingly tailored measures of performance, FTSE Custom is well positioned to provide these consultative investment solutions.”
