S&P Global 1200 Index

What is the S&P Global 1200 Index?

The S&P Global 1200 index is comprised of seven indices with stocks from 29 representative countries. The index is used as a benchmark for global equity markets.

How Does the S&P Global 1200 Index Work?

The seven indices that make up the S&P Global 1200 index are weighted according to market capitalization and free float adjusted.

The seven indices are:

• S&P Europe 350
• S&P/TOPIX 150
• S&P/TSX 60
• S&P/ASX 50
• S&P/Asia 50
• S&P Latin America 40
• S&P 700

Each index includes the top blue chip companies from each market, balanced across the 10 major sectors of the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).

 As with any index, the stocks included in the index must meet specific criteria for size, profitability, liquidity, and sector/market representation.  If a company does not meet the criteria, it may be deleted from the index.

Why Does the S&P Global 1200 Index Matter?

The S&P Global 1200 Index can be used as a benchmark for the global equities portion of an investor's portfolio and to track the performance of a specific foreign stock, foreign mutual fund, or foreign ETF.

If an investor wishes to mirror the performance of this index, he/she may use a combination of the iShares S&P 500 Index (NYSE: IVV), S&P Europe 350 Index (NYSE: IEV), S&P/TOPIX 150 Index (NYSE: ITF) and S&P Latin America 40 Index (NYSE: ILF).

Alternatively, an investor may consider simply investing in the ETF, iShares S&P Global 100 Index Fund (NYSE: IOO) to increase exposure to several different regional markets.

The Bloomberg ticker used to track the S&P Global 1200 Index is listed as SPGLOB.

[InvestingAnswers Guide: Expose Yourself to Overseas Markets: Choosing Between ETFs and ADRs]