Silk Road Management has launched Silk Road Australia Index, a benchmark that includes the largest Mongolia and Central-Asia-focused companies with listings traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The index currently cover 10 companies with total market capitalization of USD 1.2 billion, as recorded on 31 December, and is set with an initial value of 1,000 as of 1 January.

“We believe that Silk Road Australia Index, with albeit modest USD 1.2 million market capitalization, is expected to expand significantly in coming years on the back of upcoming IPOs of Mongolia-focused resource companies,” said Alisher Ali, managing partner of Silk Road Management.

Similarly, the Silk Road Hong Kong Index more than tripled to USD 1.2 billion in market capitalization at the end of 2010, from USD 3.4 billion at the beginning of the same year. The gain was a result of three of three initial public offerings (IPOs) for three Mongolian resource companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx): Mongolian Mining Corporation, SouthGobi Energy, and Winsway Coking Coal Holdings.