ASEAN Exchanges have expanded FTSE ASEAN Index Series with the introduction of a comprehensive suite of three indices broadly covering the growing ASEAN equity market.

The three new tradable ASEAN indices are the FTSE ASEAN All-Share Index, FTSE ASEAN Stars Index and FTSE ASEAN All Share Ex-Developed Index.

The FTSE ASEAN Index Series now includes constituents from Vietnam. Previously it only had the constituents from the five markets of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The new expanded index series is seen to increase visibility and transparency of ASEAN and create a larger universe of stocks for all ASEAN markets.

The ASEAN Exchanges said that the creation of indices will be the building block towards creating broader benchmark indices, meaningful sectors indices and new ASEAN centric products that will bring more ASEAN tradable opportunities for investors and enhance liquidity among the exchanges.

“ASEAN, one of the fastest growth regions of the world, is an exciting capital market and increasingly now as investors will have a one-point access to an aggregated and comprehensive ASEAN content,” said Stock Exchange of Thailand president Charamporn Jotikasthira.

He added that “our teams have been diligently working to ensure that there are ASEAN centric products for retail investors, which will lead to opportunities for ETFs, amongst other structured products.”

FTSE Deputy Chief Executive Donald Keith said “FTSE is delighted to have been collaborating with the ASEAN Exchanges and to be chosen as the preferred index partner by the ASEAN exchanges.”

Keith noted that “the development of indices based on FTSE’s globally recognized methodology and transparent rule-based standards will facilitate the visibility of the ASEAN markets, and help both regional and global investors gain insights to the unique opportunity sets in this dynamic, growing region.”

The new FTSE ASEAN Index Series includes the FTSE ASEAN All-Share Index as the broad headline benchmark representing 90-95 percent of the investable market capitalization in the region.

The FTSE ASEAN Stars Index is also among the newly announced indices providing a comprehensive benchmark of the ASEAN equity market. The existing FTSE/ASEAN 40 Index, which reflects the performance of the largest companies in the ASEAN market, will continue to be calculated as part of the series.

The indices are free-float adjusted and calculated in accordance with the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB).