HARARE – (FinX), The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange is set to adopt a new set of indices under Global Industry Classification Standard from January 1, 2020

HARARE – (FinX), The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange is set to adopt a new set of indices under Global Industry Classification Standard from January 1, 2020 The indices, which provide companies with a clearly defined peer group, will have seven classifications; Financials, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Materials, Industrials and Real Estate The GICS was developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International and Standard & Poor’s in 1999 It facilitates industry analysis by classifying companies on four different levels: sectors, industry groups, industries and sub-industries The ten sectors in the GICS classification are: Energy, Materials, Industrials, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Healthcare, Financials, Information Technology, Telecommunication Services and Utilities It’s main advantage is that it enables asset owners, asset managers and investment research specialists to make seamless company, sector and industry comparisons across countries, regions, and globally ZSE chief executive Justin Bgoni said that the adoption was in line with trends elsewhere “Zimbabwe is behind other exchanges in terms of adoption but more importantly GICS will better explain stock market movement.” The adoption is also necessary for ETF creation while in the long term the indices can be sold to index providers The classifications are shown below: Under the proposed structure, the Industrials Index will be discontinued and redefined according to GICS while the Top 10 Investable Index will account for free float adjustment “The new indices are expected to provide the market with better tools for performance measurement as well as assist in sector-based investment strategies As an example, a fund manager will be able to create a portfolio that focuses on investing in export and dual listed stocks and offer such portfolio as a unit trust to potential investors.” The new indices will be introduced with effect from 1 January 2020 as follows; Meanwhile ZSE shares halted a losing streak and closed Friday in positive territory Gains were restricted to mid-tier counters with the exception of Old Mutual and Cassava Trading activity remained subdued on weak investor sentiment at a time that Government seems to be making and continuing anti-investment and anti-business policies Total trades amounted to 75 with transaction volume at $2.84m at a time the interbank official rate keeps nudging upwards with today’s close at 16.1073x As long as firms and other investors are unable to make their decisions on the basis of a stable currency, it will be difficult to attract investment, whether domestic or foreign The ZSE All Share Index was 0.35% higher to 241.44 and the Industrials Index was 0.32% to 803.64 The ZSE Top 10 added a marginal 0.22% to 217.97 while the Minings rose 1.98% to 341.56 after Bindura’s 5.25% gain to 16.84 ahead of the release of its September results Source: The Anchor All Zim News is a central hub for all things Zimbabwean, curating news from across the country so no story is missed Alongside aggregation, our team of nationwide reporters provides real-time, on-the-ground coverage Stay informed and connected — reach us at admin@allzimnews.com. Source: Theanchor