Tech Investment Gets Brand New ASX Index

Investors in the Australian market are getting a brand new opportunity thanks to the critical launch of an index covering the technology sector.

On Monday (February 24), the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) saw the official debut of the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (XTX). The index was launched through an official partnership between the ASX and S&P Dow Jones Indices.

According to the exchange, the index tracks 46 Australian firms in the country’s tech space and is intended to be a new standard bearer for investors looking for company picks.

Dominic Stevens, CEO and managing director of the ASX, credited the launch of the index to the “tremendous growth” seen in the tech space over the past three years.

The executive indicated that if it had existed during that timeframe, the new index’s total returns would have outpaced the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) by over 10 percent.

“The All Tech Index recognises the critical mass of technology companies listed on ASX. It provides investors with an opportunity to see how the sector is tracking and gives them a benchmark to measure its performance,” Stevens said.

On its first day of trading, the index closed at 2,018.6 points, representing a slide of 4.12 percent. The fund held a combined market capitalisation of over AU$100 billion as of its trading debut.

The ASX executive added that a wide selection of the companies featured in the new index began their journeys as small-cap names and are now recognized as firms with billion-dollar valuations.

“A vibrant technology sector is also good for Australia,” said Stevens. “It helps drive economic growth, strengthens the relevance of our capital markets and encourages job creation and innovation onshore.”

According to the exchange, the index’s top holdings as of launch were:

• Xero (ASX:XRO)
• Computershare (ASX:CPU)
• Afterpay (ASX:APT)
• REA Group (ASX:REA)
• Altium (ASX:ALU)
• Carsales.com (ASX:CAR)
• WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC)
• Link Administration Holdings (ASX:LNK)
• NEXTDC (ASX:NXT)
• Appen (ASX:APX)

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Securities Disclosure: I, Bryan Mc Govern, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.