Techmark

The Techmark is a grouping of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was originally launched in 1999 to cash in on the dot-com boom.

The Techmark has survived largely as a way of identifying a wide range of technology companies. It includes not just IT companies, but those from a wide range of sectors such pharmaceuticals, engineering and telecoms.

There are three FTSE indices covering Techmark companies. The Techmark All-share includes all Techmark companies. The Techmark 100 covers small and medium sized companies. The Techmark Mediscience covers small and medium sized pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.

Techmark is a grouping and does not change how companies' securities trade. It is not a sector in itself and Techmark companies are also grouped into the usual sectors. It is usually obvious that a company is a technology company - so what is the point of the Techmark grouping? To a large extent, it serves the same purposes as sector classifications:

• It allows investors to measure their exposure to technology companies in the same way that they can use sector classifications to measure exposure to a particular sector (or to, for example, cyclical sectors in general).
• It allows funds to define their mandate with more clarity. "Invest in Techmark companies" is a lot more definite than "invest in technology companies".
• The Techmark indices provide benchmarks for technology funds that invest in multiple sectors (as most do).