FTSE

FTSE stands for Financial Times Stock Exchange and refers to a family of UK equity indices compiled by FTSE Russell, a brand of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). The indices provide widely used benchmarks for the performance of UK-listed shares and are designed to be investable and transparent. The FTSE brand originated as a joint venture between the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange in 1995 to publish the index family; since 2015, FTSE Russell operates as part of LSEG following an acquisition of FTSE’s international and Russell Investments businesses.

The flagship index is the FTSE 100, which tracks the largest 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange by market capitalization and liquidity, with weights based on free float-adjusted market capitalization. The base value of the FTSE 100 is 1000, established on January 3, 1984. In addition to the FTSE 100, the family includes the FTSE 250 (the next 250 largest stocks), the FTSE 350 (the combined 100 and 250), and the FTSE All-Share (which aims to cover around 98% of UK market capitalization by combining these and other eligible stocks). Smaller-cap segments such as FTSE SmallCap complete the scope of the All-Share universe.

Indices are reviewed quarterly (with constituent changes implemented after trading on the review dates, in March, June, September and December). The FTSE family is widely used by investors as a benchmark, by funds and ETFs seeking UK exposure, and by derivatives markets that offer futures and options on the FTSE 100 and related indices.