SBI unveils India’s first bond index series in UK

Exchange-traded fund soon

- The FTSE SBI Bond Index Series is positioned as a first-of-its-kind transparent benchmark for investors in international markets to analyse India's government bond market

- While there are no specific products linked to the index as yet, SBI has plans to come out with an exchange-traded fund over the next 4-5 months

London, September 22

State Bank of India (SBI) today launched India’s first bond index series for overseas investors at the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The FTSE SBI Bond Index Series, launched by India's largest commercial bank along with global index and data provider FTSE Russell, is positioned as a first-of-its-kind transparent benchmark for investors in international markets to analyse India's government bond market.

"In respect of the Indian government bond market, we didn't have any international indices on which the international investors could take a call. With the launch of this index alongside FTSE Russell, our intention is to give people a benchmark based on which they can make investment calls," SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said at the launch ceremony at the LSE on Friday.

The FTSE SBI Bond Index Series "demonstrates SBI's commitment to play befitting leadership role" in the development of India's bond market, SBI said in a statement.

The launch follows the November 2015 visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the UK when a letter of intent was signed between SBI and FTSE to jointly develop the new index tracking Indian fixed income securities.

The Indian bond market is worth around $1.7 trillion.

While there are no specific products linked to the index as yet, SBI has plans to come out with an exchange-traded fund (ETF) over the next 4-5 months.

"We are hopeful that the LSE will help us in getting a few products in. We have already approached the capital market regulator in India to allow us to use this index in order to launch an ETF. But even though there may not be products in the interim, we still expect the index to be used by investors as a benchmark," Bhattacharya explained. PTI