For investors following Europe’s developed markets, Greece is back on the map.
FTSE Russell’s reclassification of the Greek capital market from “advanced emerging” to “developed” took effect on Monday, marking another step in the country’s recovery from its sovereign debt crisis.
Euronext Athens said the upgrade represented “a major international recognition of the significant progress and structural reforms implemented in recent years at the Athens Stock Exchange” and underscored the growing attractiveness of the Greek capital market to international investors.
The change moved 62 Greek stocks out of FTSE’s emerging-market benchmarks and into its developed-market indices, according to Piraeus Securities.
Such classifications help determine where many institutional and index-tracking funds can invest, potentially exposing Greek equities to a broader pool of international capital.
Yianos Kontopoulos, CEO of the Athens Exchange Group, called the upgrade a “landmark achievement”, saying it could broaden the pool of international investors, attract capital from funds tracking developed-market indices and create new financing opportunities for listed companies.
In a separate but simultaneous change, index provider STOXX also reclassified Greece as a developed market. This allowed nine Greek companies — National Bank of Greece, Eurobank, Piraeus Bank, Alpha Bank, GEK Terna, Jumbo, Motor Oil, PPC and Metlen — to join the pan-European STOXX Europe 600.
The changes prompted index-tracking funds to adjust their portfolios before they took effect. Funds tracking emerging-market indices had to sell Greek shares, while those following developed-market benchmarks had to buy them.
Much of this trading took place during Friday’s closing auction, pushing the value of shares traded in Athens to a record €4.26 billion, according to Greek financial website Euro2day. The figure includes both purchases and sales. It surpassed the previous record of about €3.03 billion, set in May 2008.
The question now is whether the index-driven trading will lead to sustained foreign investment and greater liquidity in Greek shares.
Greece moves further beyond its debt crisis
Greece’s stock market upgrade coincided with further signs of confidence in the country’s public finances.
On Friday, Moody’s changed the outlook on Greece’s Baa3 sovereign rating from stable to positive, indicating that an upgrade could follow if economic and fiscal improvements continue. Scope Ratings went further, raising its rating from BBB to BBB+, with a stable outlook.
The decisions matter because stronger ratings can increase investor confidence and help a country borrow at lower rates. Both agencies pointed to Greece’s falling debt burden, budget surpluses, improved tax collection and reforms that have strengthened the economy and state institutions.
Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierakakis said the ratings decisions and the stock market’s return to developed status showed that Greece had become “more resilient and more credible”.
He cautioned, however, that the country must continue pursuing fiscal discipline, investment and reforms intended to raise productivity and wages.