GICS

GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) is a joint Standard and Poor’s/Morgan Stanley Capital International product aimed at standardising industry definitions. To bring Australia in line with the rest of the world Standard and Poor’s have reclassified all ASX listed entities according to GICS. From 1 July 2002 the ASX industry classification became redundant.

The Australian market has traditionally been associated with 24 industry sectors unique to this country. GICS consists of 10 Sectors aggregated from 24 Industry Groups, 67 Industries, and 147 Sub-Industries currently covering over 27,000 companies globally.

The standardised classification system has the advantage that it encourages foreign investors to look in to local markets, as well as allowing local investors to look at the rest of the world and compare stocks via industry classification. This approach contributes to the transparency and efficiency in the investment process.

GICS sectors

To discover more about GICs or to view the GICs map, please visit the Standard & Poor’s website.

Constituents are available for both the S&P/ASX 200 and S&P/ASX 300 GICS sector indices.