November 1999

As we go to press the latest addition to the team squad, the FTSE techMARK 100 index, is only just out of the starting blocks.

Created to complement the FTSE techMARK All Share index, the techMARK 100 is a new tracker index that puts the emphasis firmly on ground floor investment, concentrating on shares with a capitalisation of up to £4bn.

By stripping out all the big names within the 174 stocks listed on London's new techMARK, the techMARK 100 index allows investors to focus exclusively on potential.

The hi tech companies of tomorrow are what the FTSE techMARK 100 index is all about, giving investors prime exposure to young, high growth companies within the information technology industry.

techMARK, launched this year as a segment or market within a market by the London Stock Exchange, is the latest addition to the growing band of small, highly specialised European stock markets.

It claims to trade more individual shares than the competition. Armed with FTSE International indices, there should be no shortage of action for the fledgling market which aims to feed the growing investor appetite for technology plays.

Fund managers are already lining up to plug into the new indices. Marc Gordon, head of Close Brothers, the fund management group which expects to be the first to launch a fund to track the FTSE techMARK 100 index, is more than enthusiastic about the project.

"The FTSE techMARK 100 enables high-tech companies not commonly found in large numbers of portfolios to increase their profile", says Mr Gordon. "This market is hugely exciting. We now have the opportunity to focus on the entrepreneurs of the future".

Indeed, the aim of the FTSE techMARK 100 is to allow investors to pinpoint companies growing from very modest bases. It excludes the largest technology stocks (like British Telecom, for example) which represent over half of the value of the techMARK All Share index.

"There is significant pipeline of new companies developing some very exciting products and services", says Dhiran Shar, head of the European Technology Group at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. "These initiatives will give them easier access to public money and raise their visibility".

Jim Martin, of venture capitalists 3i, takes up the theme. "In my experience the most important drivers of venture capitalists' appetite for young technology businesses has been listed markets. This initiative will help fast growing companies to achieve global potential", he says.