BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PYMNTS today unveiled the CE100TM Index--the Connected Economy Equity Index--a new index of 100 publicly-traded companies to track the digital transformation of the global economy.
The CE100 tracks the progress of a diverse group of companies that are playing key roles in driving the growth of the connected economy—growth that began well before, but was accelerated by, the Covid-19 pandemic. The companies were selected based on PYMNTS’ comprehensive research on the connected economy conducted over the past decade, including interviews with more than 700 CEOs and C-Suite executives since 2019, in-depth analyses of the drivers of the connected economy, and large-scale consumer surveys. The CE100 Index includes a wide diversity of firms, from mature, traditional companies making aggressive moves into digital, to new, nimble, digital-only startups.
“The digital transformation that we now witness is not only blurring the lines between digital and physical, but between verticals,” says Karen Webster, PYMNTS CEO, “Companies are using payments and a host of enabling technologies to change how they engage with their end customer, redefining their businesses. It’s incredibly exciting to see how this is making new ways of doing things possible across every sector of the connected economy— and it’s still early days.”
The CE100 is an equal-weighted equity index, adjusted for splits and dividends, that represents 11 key components of the connected economy. The following methodology was used to select the Index companies that were selected during the first half of 2021.
PYMNTS organized the Connected Economy into 10 pillars that affect peoples’ daily lives: Pay, Eat, Shop, Live, Move, Bank, Be Well, Stay Connected, Have Fun and Work. An 11th component, Enablers, provides the foundation for these pillars. PYMNTS then selected companies for the index who have core capabilities in one of these 11 components and met the following four criteria:
- Highly evolved digital capabilities in the pillar for which they were considered.
- Evidence that they had begun to expand into core-adjacent capabilities.
- Data assets and technology that provide a foundation for innovation.
- Investment in key digital capabilities, including R&D, partnerships and acquisitions.
PYMNTS also recruited eight private equity and venture capital investors to provide independent identification of potential index companies based on the four criteria for each pillar; PYMNTS added and subtracted companies from the initial list based on their guidance. Final selections were made in May 2021, and a soft launch of the index occurred on PYMNTS’ website in June.
The CE100 is based on a stratified sample of companies across the 11 categories. The median market cap of the companies on the CE100 is $108 billion as of January 31, 2022. Between January 2020 and January 2022, the CE100 had an annual return of 27.2 percent, substantially higher than the S&P500 (19.2 percent) and Dow Jones (12.6 percent) and slightly less than the NASDAQ Composite (29.9 percent). The top five performers, based on returns, were Tesla (TSLA), NVIDIA (NVDA), Crowdstrike (CRWD), Fiverr (FVRR), and MongoDB (MDB).
About PYMNTS
PYMNTS is a recognized global leader for data, news, and insights on innovation in payments and the platforms powering the connected economy. PYMNTS uses proprietary research, data analysis and executive insights to create content and start conversations about the future of our connected world and how it impacts business decisions.
For more information: https://www.pymnts.com/