Merrill Launches Lifestyle Index

Stephen Harris

16 April 2007

Merrill Lynch has launched a new index to track stocks associated with global luxury and lifestyle brands. According to Merrill, its ML LifeStyle Index is the first ever tradable certificate built to cover this sector, incorporating stocks selected from a wide range of developed market sectors, including automobiles, wines and spirits, jewellery, high fashion, travel, retail and high net worth individuals’ financial service providers. At least 15 and at most 50 stocks will be included in the index, which is currently composed of the maximum number of stocks, and includes companies such as Christian Dior, Bulgari, Harley-Davidson and Royal Caribbean Cruises. The number of individual constituent stocks may be changed during bi-annual reviews, which will be conducted on the first trading day of February and of August. Antoine Colonna, senior European luxury goods analyst at Merrill Lynch in Paris says: “This is a ground-breaking investment solution for the sector providing global exposure to the strong growth potential of luxury and lifestyle companies, and its growth is driven by the sustained increase in living standards around the world.”