S&P, TSX Group Launch Two New Indices for the Canadian Market

TORONTO, Dec. 20 /CNW/ - Standard & Poor's, the world's leading index provider, and TSX Group Inc., operator of Toronto Stock Exchange and Montreal Exchange, announced today the launch of the S&P/TSX Equity Income Index and the S&P/TSX Composite Dividend Index, providing Canadian investors with two new innovative ways of measuring higher yielding stocks.

The S&P/TSX Equity Income Index is a strategy index focused on dividend income and comprised of 50 to 75 stocks selected from the S&P/TSX Composite, the headline index and principal broad market measure for the Canadian equity market. All stocks in the S&P/TSX Equity Income Index have a non-zero indicated annual dividend yield and are existing members of the S&P/TSX Composite.

The S&P/TSX Equity Income Index meets the Canadian investing community's desire for a new high yield, high dividend index to replace the S&P/TSX Income Trust Index which will lose most of its constituents on December 31, 2010 as many non-REIT income trusts in Canada are converting to corporate structure. The S&P/TSX Income Trust Index will continue to be calculated and published by Standard & Poor's.

The S&P/TSX Composite Dividend Index aims to provide a broad-based benchmark of Canadian dividend-paying stocks. The Index includes all stocks in the S&P/TSX Composite with positive annual dividend yields as of the latest rebalancing of the S&P/TSX Composite.

"The launch of these two new indices is the direct result of several consultations with the Canadian investment community, including industry leaders in income investing," says Abigail Etches, Director at S&P Indices. "The S&P/TSX Equity Income Index and the S&P/TSX Composite Dividend Index will provide investors with exposure to higher yielding stocks on a consistent basis while staying true to our hallmark of a transparent, rules-based methodology."

For more information about the S&P/TSX Equity Income Index and the S&P/TSX Composite Dividend Index, please visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

About S&P Indices
S&P Indices, the world's leading index provider, maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Over $1.25 trillion is directly indexed to Standard & Poor's family of indices, which includes the S&P 500, the world's most followed stock market index, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, the S&P Global BMI, an index with approximately 11,000 constituents, the S&P GSCI, the industry's most closely watched commodities index, and the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index, the premier investable index for U.S. municipal bonds. For more information, please visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

About TMX Group (TSX-X)
TMX Group's key subsidiaries operate cash and derivative markets for multiple asset classes including equities, fixed income and energy. Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, Montreal Exchange, Natural Gas Exchange, Boston Options Exchange (BOX), Shorcan, Equicom and other TMX Group companies provide trading markets, clearing facilities, data products and other services to the global financial community. TMX Group is headquartered in Toronto with offices in Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. For more information about TMX Group, visit our website at www.tmx.com.

Exposure to an asset class is available through investable instruments based on an index.  It is not possible to invest directly in an index.  S&P does not sponsor, endorse, sell, promote or manage any investment fund or other vehicle that is offered by third parties and that seek to provide an investment return based on the returns of any S&P Index.

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