S&P Indices Named Asia's Most Innovative Index Provider of the Year by Structured Products Magazine

HONG KONG, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognized for its growing class of innovative index products, Standard & Poor's -- the world's leading index provider -- announced today that it has been named most innovative index provider of the year in the Structured Products Asia Awards 2009.

The Structured Products Asia Awards 2009 is the premier awards program in Asia-Pacific that recognizes excellence and innovation in the manufacture and distribution of derivatives based investments across Asia.

According to Structured Products magazine:
"The strategic markets approach has served Standard & Poor's well over the past 12 months, specifically the index provider's Risk Control Indices, Currency Beta Series, Asian Thematic Indexes and S&P 10 and S&P 40 indexes."

In 2009, S&P Indices has launched over 40 indices that have provided regional and global investors in Asia with greater investment choices, additional diversification options and increased transparency. A few of the innovative indices launched by S&P Indices in 2009 and recognized by Structured Products magazine include:

• Risk Control Family of Indices for Asia: The S&P Risk Control Indices aim to offer investors greater stability and a reduction in overall risk level by integrating a volatility control within the index rules.
  

• S&P/KRX Asia 100: The S&P/KRX Asia 100 Index offers investors exposure to the largest and most liquid stocks from China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.
  

• S&P Pan Asia Dividend Opportunities: The S&P Pan Asia Dividend Opportunities Index is designed to measure the performance of 50 Pan-Asian stocks that have high dividend yields.
  

• S&P Asia Thematic: The S&P Asia Thematic Index Series provides exposure to three emerging investment themes: Water, Infrastructure & Alternative Energy.
  

Alexander Matturri, Executive Managing Director at S&P Indices said, "S&P Indices is honored that our commitment to serve customers' needs with highly innovative and transparent index choices is recognized by this prestigious award. Over the past twelve months, S&P Indices has brought to the market several different families of indices that address very important investment themes in the Asia Pacific region. We expect to carry this momentum into 2010 and beyond."

Tom Schiller, Executive Managing Director and Head of Standard & Poor's Asia Pacific commented, "Adopting a strategic markets approach has served Standard & Poor's well in the region, with the launch of many innovative indices in the Asia Pacific region over the last 12 months. These indices help to provide local and global investors with broader investment choices, and I am honored that we have been recognized by structured product professionals."

For more information about S&P Indices, please visit: www.standardandpoors.com/indices. For more information on the Structured Products awards visit http://www.risk.net/category/awards.

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 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 Global 1200, a composite index comprised of seven regional and country headline indices, the S&P Global BMI, an index with approximately 11,000 constituents, and the S&P GSCI, the industry's most closely watched commodities index. For more information, please visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

About Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With offices in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for nearly 150 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com

Standard & Poor's does not sponsor, endorse, sell or promote any S&P index-based investment product.