--- title: "S&P Latin America BMI: Methodology" description: "S&P Latin America BMI is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices and covers broad market index covering all eligible Latin American equities. How it is weighted." canonical: https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/indexes/sp-latin-america-bmi/ source: "Swoopr Investment: https://www.getswoopr.com" --- # S&P Latin America BMI: What It Measures and How It Is Built ## Direct Answer > The S&P Latin America BMI is a rule-based measurement of broad market index covering all eligible Latin American equities, maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices. 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 Latin America BMI covers broad market index covering all eligible Latin American equities, within the Latin America market. S&P Dow Jones Indices defines which securities are eligible, how they are selected from that pool, and how much each one contributes to the published number. The index name does not state a fixed company count, so the number of constituents follows the eligibility rules rather than a target. ## How constituents are weighted Float-adjusted market capitalization weighted. Share counts are reduced for foreign investment limits and the investable weight factors are reviewed at each annual reconstitution. 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 The Latin America region of the S&P Global BMI, which the methodology assigns to Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Listed common equities need at least US$ 100 million of float-adjusted market cap at addition and, as emerging markets, a 12-month value traded ratio of at least 10% and six-month median daily value traded of at least US$ 0.1 million. 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 Quarterly additions such as IPOs, new listings and emergence from bankruptcy must have at least three months of trading history as of the reference date. Fast tracked IPOs with a float market capitalization of at least US$2 billion are added with five business days of notice without the liquidity requirement, and spin-offs are added on their ex date. A seasoning rule is why a large new listing does not appear in an index the week it starts trading. It is a deliberate lag, and it means an index can under-represent a fast-growing part of the market for months at a time. ## When the membership is revised Annual reconstitution runs country by country, with data as of the last trading date in July, effective at the open on the Monday after the third Friday of September. Quarterly additions take effect after the third Friday of March, June, September and December, with a reference date five weeks earlier. Reconstitution is the one date an index changes shape by design rather than by price. Funds tracking it have to trade toward the new membership, which is why the schedule matters to anyone holding the tracker rather than only to the provider. ## The rule that surprises people Current constituents face lower hurdles than new ones: they stay in with at least US$ 75 million of float-adjusted cap and are removed only if the value traded ratio falls below 7% or the median daily value traded below US$ 0.07 million. Falling below US$ 25 million of float cap triggers a quarterly deletion. ## References - [S&P Dow Jones Indices: S&P Dow Jones Indices: S&P Global BMI Methodology](https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/documents/methodologies/methodology-sp-global-bmi-indices.pdf), as published 2025. Every rule described on this page is taken from this document. ## Current S&P Latin America BMI constituents S&P Dow Jones Indices publishes and licenses the S&P Latin America BMI 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: official S&P Latin America BMI page](https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/index-family/equity/latin-america/) ## Related reading - [All stock market indexes](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/indexes/): how indexes are built, weighted and revised. - [Emerging Markets indexes](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/indexes/emerging-markets/): 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 Latin America BMI? S&P Dow Jones Indices maintains the S&P Latin America BMI and publishes the methodology document that defines its eligibility and weighting rules. ### What does the S&P Latin America BMI measure? It measures broad market index covering all eligible Latin American equities. 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 Latin America BMI constituents? S&P Dow Jones Indices 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.