Barclays Capital to Launch US CMBS 2.0 Index

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Barclays Capital, publisher of leading fixed income benchmarks, today announced a new US Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) 2.0 Index, to be launched on January 1, 2011. This index will offer investors a clear new measure for evolving CMBS markets by tracking the new category of recently issued securities commonly referred to as “CMBS 2.0.”

The US CMBS 2.0 Index will be a rules-based index constructed to measure the market of investment-grade CMBS conduit and fusion deals issued since the beginning of 2010. To date, these securities have been issued as private placements and are therefore not eligible for the Barclays Capital US Aggregate Index. While many of the CMBS 2.0 deals are already eligible for the broader Barclays Capital US Investment-Grade CMBS Index, this new index also captures additional securities with a broader set of eligibility criteria including a lower minimum deal size of $250 million. Sub-indices based on quality rating and average life will also be available.

“The US CMBS 2.0 Index is an important benchmark offering clarity to a new class of securities in the evolving and resurgent US CMBS market,” said Waqas Samad, Head of Index, Portfolio and Risk Solutions for Barclays Capital. “This product underscores the strength of our benchmark index platform, combining unparalleled coverage of the fixed income asset class with an ability to offer market transparency to both broad-based debt investors and dedicated investors in narrower yet growing markets.”

These indices are intended to be used as a standalone benchmark for dedicated CMBS investors, issuers and market participants, and can also be blended with other Barclays Capital fixed income indices to create even broader benchmark indices. The CMBS 2.0 Index will also be useful as the basis for investable index products such as total return swaps, structured notes and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The index will be available on Bloomberg, Barclays Capital Live and the Barclays Capital POINT^® portfolio management and analytics platform.

About Barclays Capital Index, Portfolio and Risk Solutions

The Barclays Capital Indices platform offers market-leading benchmarks and other index products to meet the diverse needs of global investors including investment and market analysis of both alpha and beta sources, portfolio benchmarking and performance measurement, asset allocation, and the creation of index tracking funds and index-based structured products.

About Barclays Capital

Barclays Capital is the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC. With a distinctive business model, Barclays Capital provides large corporate, government and institutional clients with a full spectrum of solutions to their strategic advisory, financing and risk management needs. Barclays Capital has offices around the world, employs over 25,000 people and has the global reach, advisory services and distribution power to meet the needs of issuers and investors worldwide. For further information about Barclays Capital, please visit our website www.barclayscapital.com.

Barclays CapitalSeth Martin, +1-212-412-7565
seth.martin@barcap.com

Source: Barclays Capital