MICEX launches INNOV to track hi-tech

Moscow’s MICEX exchange has launched the MICEX INNOV index to track investment in Russia’s hi technology sector.

To be included in the index companies need to have at least a 10% free-float, with capitalization of at least at 300 million roubles.Currently 7 Russian companies are included in Micex INNOV, includingDiod, Armada, Russian navigation technologies, Pharmsintez, O2TV, Human Stem Cells Institute, and the Donskoy plant of radio components.One company cannot comprise more than 30% of the index.The calculation base for the index will be revised quarterly, with its initial reading at 1000 points. According to Rosnano, headed by Anatoly Chubais, who also leads a coordination committee of the market of investment and innovation at MICEX, this index will help Russian investors keep an eye on Russia’s technologically emerging companies. “Expanding the family of MICEX indicies reflects development of exchanging market and is another step to perfect a toolkit for professional participants of a stock market. That’s the first case when an index for innovation companies appear in Russia, which is an analogue of American Nasdaq. MICEX INNOV is a landmark for investors that’s different from a stock market index, it’ll serve as an example of profitability to compare the results of investment into hi-tech companies traded on the floor.”