MSCI, a leading provider of securities benchmarks and indices, has announced the launch of the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index.

MSCI has launched the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index, a forerunner to the iShares MSCI Frontier 100 ETF. Constituents will include countries such as Qatar (pictured), Kuwait, Nigeria and Argentina.

The index is highly correlated to the broader MSCI Frontier Markets Index, but is composed of just 100 of its largest and most liquid constituents.

The index will be used by BlackRock for a forthcoming iShares fund, the iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Index ETF, which is currently in the process of gaining SEC listing approval.

“We have seen significant demand from clients around the world for a more tradable version of our MSCI Frontier Markets Index—especially from those who face various obstacles in replicating broader frontier markets indices,” said Baer Pettit, Managing Director and Head of the MSCI Index Business.

“We expect that the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index will serve as the basis for numerous index-linked investment vehicles, ultimately providing investors with new ways to gain exposure to the frontier markets”, Pettit added.

Based on the broader MSCI Frontier Markets Index, the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index is a representative and more easily replicable alternative. The new index provides broad coverage of the frontier markets while putting a stronger emphasis on tradability compared to the parent MSCI Frontier Markets Index, through the application of a number of inclusion criteria.

Index constituents must meet minimum liquidity requirements and exhibit sufficient foreign room (the proportion of shares still available to foreign investors relative to the maximum allowed).