Standard & Poor's has launched the S&P Korea Corporate Group Index family, offering exposure to large Korean families of companies.
The S&P Korea Corporate Group Index Series 1 Cluster comprises 11 listed Samsung Group companies, spans electronics to ship-building and boasts a market capitalisation of KRW206tr ($178.83bn) as of 15 November 2010. The index is the US company's first product to track the various companies within a group in Korea, an economy which is dominated by so-called 'Jaebol', family-dominated conglomerates that receive strong state support.
"Our goal in the Korean market is to provide innovative solutions that satisfy unique local needs using global knowledge and local expertise," said Jung-Tae Chae, head of S&P Korea. "The launch of the S&P Korea Corporate Group Index underscores S&P's unparalleled expertise in index development and our strong commitment to the Korean market."
The firm said it plans to continue to expand its range of strategy indices for the Korean market.
Shinhan Bank has already bought an exclusive licence for the Series 1 Cluster index to underlie its equity-linked deposits and has launched a series of one-year capped calls linked to the new benchmark.
These products appear in Recent Additions (Korea).