Who Are The Top 200 Listed Companies and How to Find Them

We are often asked how to find out which companies make up the top 200 listed companies. Most dealer groups now include equities on their recommended lists but these tend to be limited to the S&P/ASX 200.  So it is important that you are able to find research into these companies, names, codes and other information easily. And it is easy if you know where to look. 

A little about the Indices

In April 2000 S&P took over the ASX's Index business. It was at this time that the S&P/ASX 200 began and subsequently became the benchmark for many fund managers and Investors alike.  'The S&P/ASX 200 Index is designed to offer representation of a broad benchmark index, covering 85% of Market Capitalisation in the Australian Equity Market.' 

The S&P/ASX 200 is most widely used as today's portfolio benchmark index, which tracks the top 200 companies listed on the ASX.  That is easy to say, but who makes up the top 200.  We have all heard of them but who are they?

The top 200 shares are basically picked on their Market Capitalisation.  There are some other factors that are looked at as well for a company's inclusion in the index such as the 'Free Float' which is the number of shares on issue that are freely available to be traded or the Percentage of the company's shares available for trading in the market. The same definition worded differently. There are other factors that are considered for a company's inclusion in an index such as liquidity, but at surface level it is market capitalisation that pulls rank.

A term that is thrown around investment circles is colloquial term 'Blue Chip'.  Although there is no set definition most people refer to this as the top 200 shares.

S&P has a range of indices that track different sets of companies defined by sector.  The most commonly referred to are the  Financials (XFJ) which does incorporate property trusts and then the financial ex-property trusts (XXJ) which gives a more accurate description of the financial sector without the property weighting. Given our markets proportionately large weighting to Property Australia has it's own Property classification and consequently stand alone Property Index (XPJ). There are also Indices split into smaller groups namely 20, 50, 100, 200, 300, Midcap 50, Small Ords and the remaining sector indices.

How to find the lists

A constituent list can be obtained from the S&P Website. On The home page click on 'Indices' at the top of the page, then click on 'S&P/ASX 200' on the left hand side then click on 'Constituent List'. This gives a current list of the constituents of the top 200 companies.  It can also be downloaded to excel format by clicking on the 'Download Table' link at the bottom of the list. The same information can be obtained for the S&P/ASX 20, 50, 100, 200, 300, All Ordinaries and Sector Indices.

The lists only show the company names but do not show them in order of rank.  This can be done roughly by cross referencing this list with details that can be found on www.tradingroom.com.au (Fairfax Press).  Market Capitalisation is simply the number of shares on issue multiplied by the current share price.  This calculation can be obtained by typing in the ASX code  (e.g. ASX for the Australian Stock Exchange) into the top right hand side of the home page then clicking on 'go' then clicking on 'Detail' on the left hand side and reading the figure from the page listed under 'Market Capitalisation'.  Doing this 200 times is a tedious task but to my knowledge there is not a freely available list on the web that updates regularly.  This is because with share prices changing daily and the number of shares in a company changing with share issues and buy backs etcetera, the rank could conceivably change every second. Some broking houses do provide these details so it could be worth asking a broker you have a relationship with to see what they can provide you with.

Weekly lists are usually published in the Saturday's paper, which are usually sourced from Brokers. In Sydney the Sydney Morning Herald has an informative market breakdown with a list of the top 150 companies by rank of market cap.  The Financial Review also has a list of the S&P/ASX 200 in alphabetical order. Both provide a good weekly wrap of the week in review for the top stocks and big movers.

Do the indices change?

The S&P/ASX 200 constituents are altered every 3 months (on the quarter) or when there has been a change to one of the member companies such as a take over or voluntary administration.  Therefore a regular cross checking of the constituents list should be done to look for any amendments as companies are put on or taken off, especially at lower end where a small change in share price could see members taken off. It is considered a positive sign being included in the 200 and can favourably effect share prices as fund managers put weight behind stocks once included. Over the last year or so the most notable examples of removal would be TAB Limited after a take over from Tabcorp Holdings Limited and Sons of Gwalia who were/are suspended. Given the endless possibility of these movements it is possible for the ASX/S&P 200 to have less than 200 companies within it.

Can I trade Indices on ASX?

Yes you can trade the top 50, 200 and property indices via an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).  These ETF's are the StreetTracks 50, StreetTracks 200 and StreetTracks 200 Property. They trade the same way as regular equities trade and effectively track the underlying Index. A list of ETF's is available

More Information

Standard and Poors offer a free one-page fact sheet on the Index entitled the 'Global GICS Sector Snapshot' which is a snapshot of the indices worldwide and their performance on a monthly basis.  This can be ordered by phoning (02) 9255 9870.

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