News Releases

 

New York, NY (March 18, 2009) – Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays PLC, today announced the launch of the Barclays Capital CAD INSPIRE Index. The index allows Canadian investors access to liquid inflation markets in a manner designed to mimic Canadian inflation. This is the second index to be launched in the INSPIRE Index family; the AUD INSPIRE Index was launched in February.

Jose Mazoy of the Index Products team at Barclays Capital commented, “The INSPIRE Index family adds to Barclays Capital’s already broad range of index products spanning beta, enhanced beta and alpha strategies. We plan to expand the INSPIRE Index family to provide access to inflation exposure engineered to replicate the inflation of other target countries.”

The CAD INSPIRE Index is designed to provide synthetic inflation protection for institutional investors in Canada using an optimized weighted combination of liquid swap indices from the US, UK and Euro area. Weights are recalibrated on a monthly basis and the optimization model is designed with cost efficiency considerations in mind. The CAD INSPIRE Index is available in 5-, 10- and 20-year maturities – with alternative tenors tailored upon request – and returns are expressed in local currency. This product is not available to individual investors.

“Barclays Capital is pleased to offer an innovative solution for clients to tackle the challenge faced by investors who want to create economically efficient portfolios and hedge against inflationary risk in Canada, in a flexible and cost effective manner,” said Ralph Segreti, Managing Director and Inflation-Linked and Fixed Income Index Derivatives Product Manager at Barclays Capital.

Barclays Capital will provide data, analytics and support for these indices via web-based and other e-commerce protocols. The indices are available on Barclays Capital’s index website (http://www.barcap.com/indices) and are calculated daily using standard settlements and market calendars most appropriate for international investors.

Barclays in Canada
Barclays PLC has a growing presence in Canada through Barclays Capital, its investment banking division, and Barclays Global Investors (BGI), its asset management division.

Barclays Capital in Canada has offices in Toronto and Calgary and provides investment banking products and services to corporate, government and institutional clients. The firm also operates a growing commodities trading business in Canada.

Barclays Global Investors Canada Limited (BGI Canada) is an indirect subsidiary of Barclays PLC and a part of BGI. As of November 2008, BGI Canada managed over CAD$53 billion in Canadian assets and other assets for Canadian clients, including over CAD$14 billion in the 28 TSX-listed iShares Funds. BGI Canada has offices in Toronto and Montreal.

About Barclays Capital
Barclays Capital is the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC. With a distinctive business model, Barclays Capital provides large corporate, government and institutional clients with a full spectrum of solutions to their strategic advisory, financing and risk management needs. Barclays Capital has offices around the world, employs 20,000 people and has the global reach, advisory services and distribution power to meet the needs of issuers and investors worldwide.

For further information about Barclays Capital, please visit our website www.barclayscapital.com.