Markit, a leading, global financial information services company, today announced the launch of the Markit iBoxx European ABS index, a cash bond index designed to track the performance of the European floating-rate asset backed securities (ABS) market.
The Markit iBoxx European ABS index provides investors with a benchmark to assess returns available on European ABS assets denominated in EUR, GBP, USD, and measure the relative performance of their portfolios.
Rob Ford, ABS portfolio manager at TwentyFour Asset Management, said: "This index is good news for overall transparency in the European ABS market. It's a great addition to Markit's index offering, and I'm sure it will be widely used by the market."
Stephan Flagel, managing director and head of indices at Markit, said: "We are delighted to expand the coverage of the Markit iBoxx indices to the ABS asset class. The Markit iBoxx European ABS index's strictly defined rules and pricing model make it ideal for performance attribution and structuring of financial products."
The Markit iBoxx European ABS index is independent, transparent and rules-based. Independent buy-side and sell-side committees provide guidance on issues such as index functions and advancements.