--- title: "S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries: Methodology" description: "S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices/ASX and covers ~200 small-cap companies in the S&P/ASX 300 but not the S&P/ASX 100." canonical: https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/indexes/sp-asx-small-ordinaries/ source: "Swoopr Investment: https://www.getswoopr.com" --- # S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries: What It Measures and How It Is Built ## Direct Answer > The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries is a rule-based measurement of ~200 small-cap companies in the S&P/ASX 300 but not the S&P/ASX 100, maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices/ASX. Like every index it owns nothing: it is a number produced by applying a published weighting formula to a selected list of companies, revised on a schedule the provider sets. ## What this index covers The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries covers ~200 small-cap companies in the S&P/ASX 300 but not the S&P/ASX 100, within the Australia market. S&P Dow Jones Indices/ASX defines which securities are eligible, how they are selected from that pool, and how much each one contributes to the published number. The name states a target of 200 companies. A target is not a guarantee of the exact count on any given day: corporate actions, dual share classes and pending additions all move the real number around it. ## How constituents are weighted Constituents are weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization (FMC) using the standard S&P Dow Jones divisor method. Share counts are reviewed quarterly and rounded to the nearest thousand. The weighting method is the single biggest driver of how an index behaves. Two indexes covering the same market can diverge for years purely because they weight differently, which is why comparing index levels without knowing the method tells you very little. ## What qualifies for inclusion Measures companies included in the S&P/ASX 300 but not in the S&P/ASX 100, so a member must also clear the 300 liquidity test of 30% Relative Liquidity and the 0.3 minimum Investable Weight Factor for inclusion. Eligibility rules are the part of an index most readers never look at and the part that decides what it can possibly measure. A screen that excludes a whole sector, or admits only one listing venue, shapes the result far more than any day of trading does. ## How long a listing must exist first Market capitalization is measured on a six-month daily average. An IPO or direct listing is added only when a vacancy appears or at a rebalance, and only after proven liquidity for at least eight weeks, unless an extraordinary large offering justifies an exception. A seasoning rule is why a large new listing does not appear in an index the week it starts trading. It is a deliberate lag, and it means an index can under-represent a fast-growing part of the market for months at a time. ## When the membership is revised The methodology says it only rebalances when constituent changes are made in its respective underlying index. Because it is defined as the S&P/ASX 300 less the S&P/ASX 100, changes follow the schedules of those indices (semi-annual for the 300, quarterly for the 100). Reconstitution is the one date an index changes shape by design rather than by price. Funds tracking it have to trade toward the new membership, which is why the schedule matters to anyone holding the tracker rather than only to the provider. ## The rule that surprises people Membership is defined by exclusion, so a company can leave simply because it grew into the S&P/ASX 100. A separate Select variant requires a non-constituent to have positive earnings per share in each of the prior two years, while a current constituent becomes ineligible only after two consecutive years of negative earnings per share. ## References - [S&P Dow Jones Indices/ASX: S&P Dow Jones Indices, S&P/ASX Australian Indices Methodology](https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/documents/methodologies/methodology-sp-asx-australian-indices.pdf), as published 2025. Every rule described on this page is taken from this document. ## Current S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries constituents S&P Dow Jones Indices/ASX publishes and licenses the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries constituent list. Swoopr does not republish it here. The provider's own page is the authoritative source for current membership and weights. [S&P Dow Jones Indices/ASX: official S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries page](https://www.asx.com.au/markets/trade-our-cash-market/overview/indices) ## Related reading - [All stock market indexes](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/indexes/): how indexes are built, weighted and revised. - [Asia-Pacific indexes](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/indexes/asia-pacific/): others covering the same region. - [Index concentration](https://www.getswoopr.com/technical-analysis/market-concentration/index-concentration/): measuring how much of an index sits in its largest holdings. - [Index rebalancing and inclusion effects](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/corporate-actions-catalysts/index-rebalancing-and-inclusion-effects/): what happens to a stock when index membership changes. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Who maintains the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries? S&P Dow Jones Indices/ASX maintains the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries and publishes the methodology document that defines its eligibility and weighting rules. ### What does the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries measure? It measures ~200 small-cap companies in the S&P/ASX 300 but not the S&P/ASX 100. The index is a calculated number applying a weighting formula to a selected list of companies, and it holds nothing itself. ### Where can I see the current S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries constituents? S&P Dow Jones Indices/ASX publishes the current constituent list. Swoopr does not republish it, because index providers license constituent data and Swoopr holds no such licence. ## About the author The [Swoopr Editorial Team](https://www.getswoopr.com/authors/swoopr-editorial-team/) writes Swoopr Investment's educational library, covering market structure, analysis methods and the mechanics behind the numbers investors read every day. Our [editorial policy](https://www.getswoopr.com/legal/editorial-policy/) and [corrections policy](https://www.getswoopr.com/legal/corrections-policy/) set out how this content is produced, reviewed and fixed when it is wrong.