Bats is rolling out 18 indices covering large to small cap securities across 12 industry sectors.
Bats has already secured support for the new range from some significant companies within the UK wealth and investment sector.
Alliance Trust Savings, AJ Bell, Charles Stanley Direct, Hargreaves Lansdown, Rathbones, Selftrade, and TD Direct Investing have all offered their support. These firms account for more than £160bn of funds under management, according to Bats Europe.
The new indices feature real-time publishing that Bats says contrasts with most current offerings, which are provided with a 15 minute delay.
All the indices start with a base value of 10,000 as at 31 December 2010, something Bats claims will ensure the performance of markets and sectors is easy to compare.
The company said the range will have “simplified index licensing arrangements” with a long term commitment meaning reducing costs. The indices are also said to be “highly correlated with comparable benchmarks” that investors already use.
The indices are free of charge to private and professional investors, media and for benchmarking purposes.
CEO of Bats Europe Mark Hemsley said: “As anyone watching financial markets will know, a lot can happen in fifteen minutes and by giving investors an accurate, immediate view of precisely where the market is moving, we can help them make better informed trading and investment decisions. Throughout our history, we’ve sought to make markets better, and more cost-efficient, for investors and traders. This is a first and very important step in improving index provision in Europe.”
“Rathbones is delighted to support the launch of the new Bats UK index series,” added Paul Chavasse, head of investment at Rathbones. “Bats is providing a comprehensive, robust and low-cost set of real-time indices to end investors. This will offer more depth to the market for data provision, giving clients the information they need to help build and monitor their portfolios better.”
