Markit, a leading financial information services company, has announced the forthcoming launch of the Markit iTraxx CEEMEA, the first credit default swap (CDS) index referencing corporate debt in Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEEMEA).
Markit has announced the forthcoming launch of the iTraxx CEEMEA, the first CDS index referencing corporate debt in Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa.
The index will enable investors to gain or hedge exposure to the CEEMEA region’s corporate credit risk and will include corporate issuers from multiple industry sectors. Inclusion in the index is based on the liquidity of a company’s CDS and the amount of debt outstanding in the market.
Neil McPherson, Managing Director of Indices at Markit, said: “We are launching this index in response to increasing client demand for an efficient tool to hedge and gain exposure to corporate debt issued in the CEEMEA region. This is a significant addition to our already extensive Markit iTraxx family of indices.”
As previously announced, Markit will also launch the Markit CDX LatAm Corporate index, an index tracking Latin American corporate debt. Both indices are scheduled to launch in the third quarter of this year.
The Markit iTraxx CEEMEA is part of the Markit iTraxx family, the pre-eminent range of benchmark credit indices. The rules-based Markit iTraxx indices are comprised of the most liquid names in the EMEA and Asian markets. The selection methodology ensures that the indices are replicable and represent the most liquid, traded part of the market.
A number of existing Markit CDS indices are tracked by ETFs sponsored by Deutsche Bank [See DB X-trackers launches world’s first range of North American corporate credit ETFs]. Investors can use these ETFs (listed below) to express either a bullish or bearish view on credit as an asset class or to actively manage broad credit exposures within a bond portfolio.
DB X-trackers iTraxx Europe 5-Year TR Index ETF
DB X-trackers iTraxx Europe 5-Year Short Daily TR Index ETF
DB X-trackers iTraxx Crossover 5-Year TR Index ETF
DB X-trackers iTraxx Crossover 5-Year Short TR Index ETF
DB X-trackers iTraxx HiVol 5-Year TR Index ETF
DB X-trackers iTraxx HiVol 5-Year Short TR Index ETF
DB X-trackers Markit CDX North America Investment Grade ETF
DB X-trackers Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Short Daily ETF
Markit CDX North America High Yield ETF
Markit CDX North America High Yield Short Daily ETF
The above ETFs are listed on European exchanges (Xetra, Borsa Italiana etc) and come with TERs ranging from 0.18% and 0.34%.
(CEEMEA includes: Russia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Israel, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar and South Africa)