The FTSE Group has acquired Dow Jones’ Indexes share of Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB), a market segmenting tool that was established as a 50-50 joint venture in 2005.
The deal gives FTSE complete control of the tool, which it claims is the broadest classification system on the market, with a universe of 80,000 stocks.
The ICB is split into ten industries, which are each divided into three lower tiers, with 114 segments across all industries on the lowest tier. For instance the consumer goods industry, code 3000, is on the lowest tier split into segments such as toys, footwear and tobacco.
FTSE said the ICB is designed “for investors to use in their everyday trading and investment decisions”.
Dow Jones will continue to maintain its own classification system based on the ICB.
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