Dow Jones Indexes and Brookfield Asset Management, a global asset management company focused on property, power and infrastructure assets, have launched the Dow Jones Brookfield Infrastructure Indexes, a global index series designed to serve as benchmarks of companies that are owners and operators of infrastructure assets such as toll roads, pipelines and ports. The new index family includes a composite index and sub-indexes for four regions and eight sectors.

Dow Jones Indexes president Michael Petronella said: “As the global infrastructure industry—which is the backbone for the provision of essential products and services for the world economy – continues to expand in response to increasing population and demographic shifts, there is a greater demand for high-quality benchmarks that accurately reflect this burgeoning asset class. The Dow Jones Brookfield Infrastructure indexes can be used by institutional investors as measurement tools to gauge the performance of their infrastructure portfolios. The indexes also can be customised to meet the needs of market participants who are interested in specific areas, such as electricity transmission or toll road companies.”

To be eligible for inclusion, a company must have a minimum float-adjusted market capitalization of $500 million as well as a minimum three-month average daily trading volume of $1 million.

Securities also must be domiciled in a country with a liquid market listing. More than 70 per cent of cash flows must be derived from the development, ownership, lease, concession or management of infrastructure assets in the following sectors; airports, toll roads, ports, communications, electricity transmission and distribution, oil and gas storage/ transportation, and water.

Also eligible are diversified companies that derive at least 70 per cent of their cash flow from infrastructure assets as well as investment funds with a primary focus toward infrastructure investments.