10,000 Reasons To Go Global
By Journal of Indexes Staff

Moving from the drawing board to the trading floor at breakneck speed, Russell Indexes launched its new Russell Global Index series in January. The new benchmarks include approximately 10,000 stocks globally, and cover 98 percent of the total global market capitalization.

Many questioned whether Russell would be able to deliver the indexes in January, but the group got the indexes up and running in rapid fashion.

The new indexes offer a "comprehensive set of country, region and industry benchmarks, covering small- and large-cap companies in developed and emerging markets." There are 63 countries included in the indexes, and the methodology will include complete coverage with no overlap or gaps between the indexes. Russell uses the same dividing points for capitalization across the globe, so that the criteria for a small-cap stock in Panama are the same as that used for a small-cap stock in the United Kingdom.

Russell isn't the only one going global, of course. Dow Jones Wilshire recently launched a major internationalization of its benchmarks, while S&P made a major move into the international space with the purchase of the Citigroup indexes. MSCI, of course, has dominated the international space for some time, and recently entered into the U.S. benchmarking business. And FTSE, which is dominant in Europe, has also recently expanded into the U.S. and global benchmarking space.

All these launches have set the stage for fantastic debates about market coverage, dividing lines and other methodological finer points that only a global indexer could love.