MANILA, Philippines– The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Monday, March 28, launched two new indices designed to track midsized companies and those that give out high dividends.

The PSE MidCap Index comprises 20 midsized companies and is designed to capture their performance. To be included in this index, a company must be listed for at least 12 months during the review period and must have a free float of at least 15% of its outstanding shares at the end of the 12-month period. Market capitalization, liquidity, and financial performance are the other criteria considered.

The companies included in the PSE MidCap Index are:

• AREIT
• Bloomberry Resorts
• Cebu Air
• Century Pacific Food
• Cosco Capital
• DoubleDragon Corporation
• DMCI Holdings
• D&L Industries
• Filinvest Land
• GMA Network
• AllHome
• Manila Water
• Nickel Asia
• Petron
• Philippine National Bank
• Philex Mining
• Robinsons Retail Holdings
• Semirara Mining and Power Corporation
• Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation
• Vista Land & Lifescapes

Meanwhile, the PSE Dividend Yield Index focuses on companies that consistently give high-yielding dividends. The 20 companies in this index are selected based on liquidity and three-year average dividend yield performance.

The companies included in the PSE Dividend Yield Index are:

• Aboitiz Equity Ventures
• Aboitiz Power
• AREIT
• Bank of the Philippine Islands
• DMCI Holdings
• D&L Industries
• Globe Telecom
• GMA Network
• International Container Terminal Services
• LT Group
• Metrobank
• Manila Electric Company
• Metro Pacific Investments Corporation
• Nickel Asia
• Robinsons Land
• Robinsons Retail Holdings
• Semirara Mining and Power Corporation
• Security Bank
• PLDT 
• Universal Robina Corporation

“The base date and base level for both indices is December 30, 2010, at 1,000. At the launch, the PSE MidCap Index and the PSE Dividend Yield Index will have 1,195.10 and 1,708.56 as their starting levels, respectively, representing an increase of 19.5% and 70.9% from their base levels, based on the 11-year backtesting conducted by the PSE. The subsequent levels will be computed at the end of every trading day,” the PSE said.

At the close of Monday’s trading, the PSE MidCap Index ended at 1,195.49, up by 0.03%, while the PSE Dividend Yield Index was at 1,708.00, down by 0.03%.

“With the launch of these two indices, we hope to see more funds created that will track these new benchmarks. We think this will also provide fund managers and investors the opportunity to diversify their portfolio,” PSE president and chief executive officer Ramon Monzon said.

The benchmark PSE index traded flat on Monday, closing slightly higher by 0.13%, while the broader all shares inched up 0.2%. – Rappler.com