NEW YORK, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) announced today that it has begun publishing the Palomar Healthcare Technology Index ; a new index comprised of publicly traded companies engaged in Healthcare Informatics, Medical Instruments and Medical Appliances.
The Palomar Healthcare Technology Index is a modified equal weighted index comprised of companies whose businesses stand to benefit substantially from the burgeoning global demand for advanced technologies in medicine and healthcare. The index is rebalanced each March, June, September and December. The index divisor was initially calculated to yield a benchmark value of 1000.00 at the close of trading December 31, 1998.
Hossein Pourmand, co-founder and principal architect of the Palomar Healthcare Technology Index, said, “We are witnessing the positive effects of technology and specifically information technology on the healthcare sector and the digitization of healthcare is still in its early stages. Hospitals and healthcare providers are realizing the tangible benefits of advanced technology in medical instruments and appliances as well as the efficiency gains of information technologies in the delivery of healthcare services. Given the investment needed to fully overhaul the global healthcare sector to benefit from advanced technologies, we believe the Palomar Healthcare Technology Index is the right product at the right time. We are delighted to partner with Amex in launching this product.”
The index was created by Palomar Medical Systems Inc. a Los-Angeles based healthcare advisory and research firm assisting healthcare providers with the transition to the digital age. Discussions are underway to license the Palomar Healthcare Technology Index for financial products, including an exchange traded fund which tracks the index.
Elias Azrak, co-founder of Palomar Healthcare Technology Index said, “The Palomar Healthcare Technology Index is a first-of-its-kind index developed to capture in an aggregate manner the potential associated with the substantial increase integration of technology and healthcare. We believe that this value will inevitably be unlocked as the global healthcare system offer more advanced treatments to various ailments and becomes more automated in the delivery of services.”
Scott Ebner, director of New Product Development at the Amex, said, “The Palomar Healthcare Technology Index goes beyond the typical construction of an industry or sector index to target companies in three distinct categories of the healthcare sector in a unified manner. We are happy to be able to work with expert partners to introduce innovative indices like the Palomar Healthcare Technology Index that are designed to work well as exchange-listed products.”
About the American Stock Exchange
The American Stock Exchange(R) (Amex(R)) is the only primary exchange that offers trading across a full range of equities, options and exchange traded funds (ETFs), including structured products and HOLDRS(SM). In addition to its role as a national equities market, the Amex is the pioneer of the ETF, responsible for bringing the first domestic product to market in 1993. Leading the industry in ETF listings, the Amex lists 150 ETFs. The Amex is also one of the largest options exchanges in the U.S., trading options on broad-based and sector indexes as well as domestic and foreign stocks. For more information, please visit http://www.amex.com.
About Palomar Medical Systems, Inc.
Palomar Medical Systems, Inc. is a management advisory and research firm providing technology assessment, business process review and re-design to small and medium sized healthcare providers and healthcare technology companies. Palomar Medical Systems Inc client base includes high-technology companies, privately held healthcare providers, government agencies and non-profit organizations engaged in the integration of high technology with healthcare. Hossein Pourmand is the Chief Executive Officer of Palomar Medical Systems, which he founded in 2004.
The American Stock Exchange
CONTACT: Mary Chung of The American Stock Exchange, +1-212-306-1641,mary.chung@amex.com; or Hossein Pourmand of Palomar Healthcare TechnologyIndex, +1-310-995-3062, hossein@palomarsystems.com, for The American StockExchange
Web site: http://www.amex.com/
