New FTSE ASFA Australia Bond Index Series Launched

FTSE Group ("FTSE”), the third largest fixed income index provider, today announces the launch of the FTSE AFSA Australia Bond Index Series, a comprehensive set of fixed-income benchmarks that cover the different sectors of the Australian (AUD) bond market. This new series provides a wide variety of index and bond level analytics, along with sub-indices for sectors, ratings and maturity bands, allowing for more granular attribution and additional customisation options.

FTSE and ASFA (the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia) have been working in partnership since 2007 and, in 2009, jointly created the FTSE ASFA Australia Index Series to provide superannuation funds and their fund managers with industry-standard after-tax benchmarks. ASFA is the policy, research and advocacy body that represents the Australian superannuation industry and helps market participants with performance measurement, regulatory reporting and governance.

The methodology behind the new FTSE ASFA Australia Bond Index Series was designed in consultation with market participants to increase transparency in the AUD denominated bond market. It is replicable, using clear and publicly available rules, and the index utilises pricing sourced from the Interactive Data Corporation. Index management is governed by an independent committee formed by fixed-income practitioners and experts.

The FTSE ASFA Australia Bond Index Series includes over 70 sub-indices, with the three main index families broken down by sector, rating and maturity:

• FTSE ASFA Australia Overall Index – corporates, sovereigns and sub-sovereigns
• FTSE ASFA Australia Government Index – national and state government bonds
• FTSE ASFA Australia Covered Bonds Index – AUD denominated covered bonds

Donald Keith, Deputy Chief Executive, FTSE said:
"In partnership with ASFA, FTSE has developed a tailor-made index series that meets the specific requirements of the Australian bond market, which represents the 7^th largest fixed income market in the world with a notional size of approximately AUD 1 trillion.”

Pauline Vamos, CEO, ASFA said:
"As more and more superannuation fund members move into retirement, the demand for stable assets with steady income streams, such as bonds, will continue to grow. This new index will offer superannuation funds greater choice in the way they benchmark Australian bonds, providing valuable input when it comes to measuring investment strategies.”

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About FTSE Group (www.ftse.com)

FTSE is a global leader in indexing and analytic solutions. FTSE calculates thousands of unique indices that measure and benchmark markets and asset classes in more than 80 countries around the world. FTSE indices are used extensively by market participants worldwide for investment analysis, performance measurement, asset allocation and hedging. Leading pension funds, asset managers, ETF providers and investment banks work with FTSE to benchmark their investment performance and use FTSE’s indices to create world-class ETFs, index tracking funds, structured products and index derivatives. FTSE also provides many exchanges around the world with their domestic indices. A core set of universal principles guides FTSE’s index design and management: FTSE’s transparent rules-based methodology is overseen by independent committees of leading market participants, focused on applying the highest industry standards in index design and governance. The foundation of FTSE’s global, regional, country and sector indices is the FTSE Global Equity Index Series, which includes the flagship FTSE All-World Index. FTSE is well known for index innovation and customer partnerships as it seeks to continually enhance the breadth, depth and reach of its offering. FTSE’s fixed income business is operated through FTSE TMX Global Debt Capital Markets. FTSE TMX Global Debt Capital Markets is a leading global provider of fixed income indices. Formed in 2013, FTSE TMX Debt Capital Markets is a joint venture that combines the fixed income index businesses of FTSE Group, TMX and MTS. This rapidly expanding business offers both global indices and analytical systems, and provides the flagship domestic benchmarks for a growing number of regions including Canada, UK and Eurozone. FTSE is wholly owned by London Stock Exchange Group.

About ASFA

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) is a non-profit, non-politically aligned national organisation, and the peak policy and research body for the superannuation sector. Our mandate is to develop and advocate policy in the best long-term interest of fund members. Our membership, which includes corporate, public sector, industry and retail superannuation funds, plus self-managed superannuation funds and small APRA funds through its service provider membership, represent over 90% of the 12 million Australians with superannuation.