Macquarie Research Equities, the institutional research arm of Australia’s Macquarie Group, has launched the Macquarie Emerging Markets Infrastructure and Development Index (MEMIDI), which tracks the rise in infrastructure spending due to demand from urbanites in emerging market economies, or “Generation A’’, by reference to the performance of the 50 largest emerging markets infrastructure-related companies.  

The rate of growth in developing economies is expected to reach as high as 7 per cent in 2008, says the bank, which is more than double the pace of developed economies. As economies develop, the aspiring middle class of urbanites grows and so too does their demand for power, transport and other utilities, it says.

The MEMIDI, calculated by the FTSE Group, is a transparent benchmark which tracks the performance of the 50 largest emerging markets infrastructure-related companies.  The infrastructure and development stocks that make up the index are ranked by market capitalization, with a 10 per cent cap on individual constituents effective on quarterly dates.

The index will be available in several currencies - US dollars, sterling, Australian dollars and Japanese yen.  There are 15 countries in the index at inception, whilst the index universe consists of 26 countries.