06/24/2007 - Robb Report Launches Robb Report Global Luxury Index

NEW YORK, July 24, 2007 – Robb Report, the international authority on the luxury lifestyle, today announced that it has launched the Robb Report Global Luxury Index to track the market performance of a representative group of public luxury goods and services companies listed on public exchanges all over the world.

“With the emergence of luxury goods and services as an important sector in the global economy, now is the perfect time to launch this index, which will serve as the barometer for luxury sector performance and progress,” said Bill Curtis, Chief Executive Officer of CurtCo Media, which owns Robb Report and a stable of other leading magazine brands catering to high-net worth consumers.

The Robb Report Global Luxury Index tracks the stock price performance of luxury goods and services companies from around the world across a wide spectrum of consumer discretionary subcategories, including retailers, luxury goods manufacturers, travel and recreation firms, and investment and other professional services firms.  The index is created based on a specific set of rules, such as equities must trade on a major U.S. or global developed-market exchange and equities must have a market capitalization at or above $500 million.  The designation of such companies as "luxury" is determined by CurtCo Media and Robb Report.  Reflecting the international nature of the global luxury sector, only 18 of the 42 companies that are in the current index composite are traded on U.S. public markets.  Other global exchanges include the London Stock Exchange, Euronext Paris, and the SWX Swiss Exchange.  Global brand names among the index constituents are luxury houses such as LVMH, Richemont and PPR; fashion companies Hermes, Burberry, and Ralph Lauren; financial services providers UBS, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse; retailers Saks and Nordstrom; jewelers Tiffany & Co. and Harry Winston; airplane manufacturers Dassault and Embraer-Empresa; liquor companies Remy Cointreau and Pernod Ricard; auto companies Porsche, Daimler Chrysler and BMW; and lodging concerns Starwood and Mandarin Oriental.

“The index is the first global index of its kind and we see it as a natural brand extension, one that underscores Robb Report as the preeminent brand in the global luxury goods and services marketplace and a critical link between the companies that sell such products and the consumers who buy them,” said David Arnold, a CurtCo Senior Vice President. 

Interest in the global luxury marketplace continues to grow as affluent households around the globe continue to increase in number and in financial power. American ultra high net-worth households, those with a net worth of $5 million or more (excluding principal residences), now exceeds 1.1 million households, more than doubling in size since 2002, according to the 2007 Spectrem Group Affluent Market Insights report.  The global affluent market has also experienced significant growth, according to the 2007 World Wealth Report recently released by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch.  Globally, households with a net worth of $1 million or more (excluding principal residence) grew from 4.5 million in 1996 to 9.5 million in 2006, representing an 8% compounded annual growth rate.  In addition, this global high-net-worth (HNW) demographic controls an estimated $37 trillion of aggregate wealth, a figure that has almost doubled over the past decade and is expected to grow to $52 trillion by 2011.

CurtCo Media has partnered with Clear Indexes, LLC to advise in the development and maintenance of the Robb Report Global Luxury Index.  The Index is calculated and maintained by Standard & Poor’s under the ticker ROBB.

CurtCo Media serves the ultra-luxury markets with a powerful network of leading lifestyle publications, including the world’s most acclaimed journal of connoisseurship, Robb Report, as well as Showboats International, Worth, the Robb Report Collection, Art & Antiques, Robb Report Home Entertainment, Robb Report Motorcycling, Robb Report Luxury Home, Robb Report Vacation Homes, Robb Report Home Entertainment, CurtCo’s Digital TV and Sound, San Diego Magazine, Gulfshore Life and Sarasota Magazines. For more information on CurtCo Media, go to www.curtco.com.

Clear Indexes, LLC creates and publishes custom indexes using a combination of qualitative research and quantitative methods.  Clear Indexes designs custom indexes to quantitatively measure specific market segments.  The indexes are used for custom institutional benchmarks and investment product design.  Clear Indexes is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Clear Asset Management Inc.  For more information, please see www.clearindexes.com and www.clearam.com.

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Jeff Perlman
Brandware Public Relations
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