December 10, 2013

SGX and Thomson Reuters launch Bond Indices for Benchmarking Investment Performance

Comprehensive index series for Singapore bonds supports market participants' need for independently priced investments

SINGAPORE - Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Thomson Reuters today announced the launch of a suite of Singapore dollar (SGD) bond indices designed to meet the needs of fund managers, asset owners and custodians in benchmarking investment performances. The new index series is the only complete government, statutory board and corporate bond index series to provide five years of historical data. This offers market participants a powerful barometer of fixed income returns across a multitude of segments.

The Thomson Reuters/SGX Singapore Fixed Income indices are based on bonds priced objectively and independently by the Thomson Reuters Evaluated Pricing Service, a time-specific assessment of the fair market value of each bond. This method provides better indicative prices as compared to composite or contributed prices that may be out of date, which also makes these indices ideal for the creation of index-based investment products such as Exchange Traded Funds which seek to provide specific investment access to Singapore debt.

“Asian companies are listing a record amount of bonds on Singapore Exchange and we are the listing venue of choice for any fixed income deals that take place in Asia”, said Muthukrishnan Ramaswami, President of SGX. “With the launch of the bond indices we aim to increase transparency and improve the price discovery process for investors. This is another key milestone for both retail and institutional investors seeking diversified multi-asset exposure through the Singapore market.”

The Singapore bond market has grown exponentially in the last 10 years, with primary issuance of corporate bonds hitting a record volume of S$26 billion in 2012. The depth of growth has been accompanied by the broadening of the market, with foreign issuers, high-yield issuers and new debt instruments adding to the diversity of the market, bolstering the Singapore government’s goal of being a regional bond centre.

“With continued interest in the Singapore fixed income market and growing demand for local index products for benchmarking, we are delighted to strengthen our relationship with SGX,” said Sanjeev Chatrath, managing director, Region Head - Asia, Financial & Risk at Thomson Reuters. “Across the global markets in which Thomson Reuters operates, we continue to work closely with market participants to offer representative benchmarks that serve to connect and empower the financial community. The launch of this index series in Singapore is just another step in demonstrating our commitment to developing financial markets in the Asia-Pacific region.”

The indices will be available on Thomson Reuters Eikon, the company’s intuitive next-generation solution for consuming real-time and historical data, connecting with the financial markets community and executing financial markets transactions. Index levels will also be available for free to Datastream customers and constituent information will be distributed via various industry standard feeds and ftp formats.

About Singapore Exchange (SGX)

Singapore Exchange (SGX) is the Asian Gateway, connecting investors in search of Asian growth to corporate issuers in search of global capital. SGX represents the premier access point for managing Asian capital and investment exposure, and is Asia’s most international exchange with more than 40% of companies listed on SGX originating outside of Singapore. SGX offers its clients the world’s biggest offshore market for Asian equity index futures, centred on Asia’s three largest economies – China, India and Japan.

In addition to offering a fully integrated value chain from trading and clearing, to settlement and depository services, SGX is also Asia’s pioneering central clearing house. Headquartered in Asia’s most globalised city, and centred within the AAA strength and stability of Singapore’s island nation, SGX is a peerless Asian counterparty for the clearing of financial and commodity products.

For more information, please visit www.sgx.com.

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs approximately 60,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For more information, go to http://thomsonreuters.com.