NSE, Meristem Collaborate on New Indices Focused On Investment Style Orientation

• New indices focused on growth and value investment strategies 
• Offers investors’ opportunity to make investments in products that truly match their investment styles and objectives.  
• Index calculated and maintained by The Nigerian Stock Exchange; style-focused methodology proprietary to Meristem Securities Limited. 

The Nigerian Stock Exchange , a multi asset exchange & index provider and Meristem Securities Limited, a leading capital market conglomerate offering investment-banking, wealth management, stockbroking, registrar and trustees services are pleased to announce the launch of two new style indices, the NSE-Meristem Growth Index and NSE-Meristem Value Index. 

These indices will be available real-time on the NSE’s website from March 12, 2019. 

The style indices were designed in response to demand for customized indices to support product development and investment management. Broadly, the style indices will provide a benchmark for the market to gauge the performance of value stocks and growth stocks listed on the Exchange. 

 Mr. Jude Chiemeka, Divisional Head, Trading Business Division of the NSE remarked,

“We are pleased to collaborate with Meristem Securities in the development of the first style–focused indices to be publicly launched in Nigeria. The introduction of the NSE-Meristem Growth and NSE-Meristem Value Indices is a laudable and innovative effort which is long overdue. These indices provide products strategists and asset managers the leverage to create investment vehicles that democratize professional asset management for the benefit of investors, while still following the tenets of classic investment philosophies: growth and value. The indices are available for licensing and the investing public is encouraged to take advantage of the benefits they provide”. 

Shedding more light on the purpose of these Indices, Mrs. Oluwakemi Akinde, Group Head Investment Research, Meristem Securities Limited, explained that

The indices are benchmarks to track the performance of growth and value stocks that are traded on the floor of The Nigerian Stock Exchange, thereby contributing to the deepening of the equity capital market by providing a leverage for fund managers to build investment products.

Furthermore, the indices serve as more appropriate benchmarks for fund managers with same investment philosophies help in effective performance attribution, and facilitate better manager selection and appraisal, while also providing market data for academics to enrich studies on the performance of growth and value stocks in the Nigerian market. A multi-factor approach was considered in developing the indices to enhance the index stability and minimize turnover cost.”  

The NSE-Meristem Growth and Value indices, as with all other NSE indices, will align with the Index committee’s Governance standards. Guidelines and methodologies for the indices are publicly available on the NSE and Meristem’s website.   

About Meristem 

Meristem Securities Limited for the past 15 years has led remarkable innovation within the capital market ecosystem to create value for investors.

In 2014, Meristem was recognized as the first capital market operator to introduce a digital trading platform, and in 2017, it handled the single largest trade in the history of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

The firm has remained a leading player in Nigeria’s competitive investment market with a solid reputation as a highly professional and client-centric organization.  Meristem Securities Limited provides investment solutions and research services to a wide array of clients across Africa, Europe & USA. 

About NSE 

The Nigerian Stock Exchange services the largest African economy through a leading sub-Saharan African financial centre. The NSE is an automated exchange providing listing and trading services, as well as electronic Clearing, Settlement and Delivery (CSD) services through the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, an associate company.

The Exchange also offers market data dissemination services to data vendors and other institutional users, as well as indexing services to index providers and users.