New Indices launched as part of S&P STARS Index Family

Standard & Poor’s Index Services, the world’s leading index provider, announced today the launch of two new STARS indices that provide investors with exposure to the top stock picks of Standard & Poor’s Equity Research analysts in Europe and the United States.

The S&P U.S. STARS Index and the S&P Europe STARS Index are designed to measure the performance of stocks within the S&P Composite 1500 (U.S. STARS) and S&P Europe 350 (Europe STARS) currently ranked 5-STARS or 4–STARS out of 5 by Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services, the world’s largest producer of independent equity research. The S&P Europe STARS Index contains 25 large-cap European stocks that in the view of Standard & Poor’s Equity Research analysts may outperform the S&P Europe 350 index over a 12-month time horizon.

"Standard & Poor's Equity Research already provides independent equity research - free of investment banking and broking conflicts - to clients at some of Europe's leading investment houses and is widely recognised as a leading source of fundamental, qualitative-driven analysis across the region,” said Eudald Canadell, managing director of Standard & Poor’s Index Services in Europe. “This new index will enable a wider range of investors to gain exposure to the bottom-up analysis of S&P’s European equity research team and their track record of delivering superior value through changing market cycles, while retaining the hallmarks of independence, transparency and integrity for which Standard & Poor’s has become renowned."

U.S. and European equities ranked 5-STARS/“Strong Buy” or 4-STARS/“Buy” by Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services analysts are expected to outperform the S&P 500 and S&P Europe 350, respectively. The S&P U.S. STARS Index is designed to reflect the performance of these recommendations within the S&P Composite 1500 universe, while the S&P Europe STARS Index is designed to reflect the performance of these recommendations within the S&P Europe 350 universe. Both indices are comprised primarily of 5-STARS stocks, but may also include 4-STARS stocks when certain conditions warrant. The S&P U.S. STARS Index and the S&P Europe STARS Index offer a passive means of tracking active security selection value generated by Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services analysts. Both indices are equal-weighted, with constituents reviewed and re-weighted every month. The new indices compliment Standard & Poor's three existing sets of S&P All STARS Baskets, which focus on high growth potential stocks in the US, Europe and Asia.

STARS has existed since 1987 for U.S. equities, and since 2002 for European equities. Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services has ranked a universe of common stocks based on a given stock's potential for future performance. Under proprietary STARS (STock Appreciation Ranking System) methodology, S&P equity analysts rank stocks according to their individual forecast of a stock's future total return potential versus the expected total return of a relevant benchmark based on a 12-month time horizon. STARS was designed to meet the needs of investors looking to put their investment decisions in perspective. The overarching investment philosophy driving the methodology is “Growth at a Reasonable Price.” Rankings range from 5-STARS /“Strong Buy” to 1-STARS/“Strong Sell”.