The S&P GSCI
TM provides investors with a reliable and publicly available benchmark for investment performance in the commodity markets. The S&P GSCI
TM is also designed to be a “tradable” index, readily accessible to market participants and cost efficient to implement. The index is calculated primarily on a world production-weighted basis and is comprised of the principal physical commodities that are the subject of active, liquid futures markets. As a result, the index is widely recognized as a leading measure of general price movements and inflation in the world economy. In order to reflect the performance of a total return investment in commodities, Standard & Poor’s calculates four separate but related indices based on the S&P GSCI
TM and a number of sub-indices representing components of the S&P GSCI
TM. The composition of the S&P GSCI
TM is reviewed on a monthly basis.
Index exhibits the following characteristics:
- Weighting: On a world-production weighted basis
- Contracts:Non-financial commodities
- Currency: U.S. dollar denominated
- Domicile: Traded on or through a trading facility which has its principal place of business in an OECD member country
Index Governance and Policy
The Index Committee, which is comprised of three full-time professional members of Standard & Poor’s staff and two members of Goldman Sachs Group, oversees the daily management and operations of the S&P GSCITM. Standard & Poor’s and the Index Committee are committed to maintaining the S&P GSCITM as a liquid, tradable index that serves as a principal benchmark for commodity investing. On at least a yearly basis, S&P also meets with an Index Advisory Panel to consult on matters relating to the composition and maintenance of the index.
