Archive
Historical Index constituents (e.g FTSE 100)
There is a newer post about this – Historical Index Consituents (e.g. S&P 500) posted October 2014.
Most best known stock market indices (e.g. FTSE 100, S&P 500, Nikkei 225, DAX, Shanghai SE, BSE Sensex, Bovespa) have constituents that change over time. For example, the FTSE 100 is the largest companies (by market capitalisation) on the London Main market and will change: as some companies grow faster than others, through merger and aquisition activity, and when large companies list.
TOB FTSE 100 constituents – click to enlarge
While the current constituents are usually readily available on the web, getting the historical constituents often requires a specialist database. Both Thomson One Banker and Datastream provide historical index constituents.
Thomson One Banker (Web Interface) – Indices Module – Lookup the index and select Constituents. The initial results are current – edit date to get historical values. (See screenshot)
Thomson One Banker (Excel add-in) – (Reports) – Index Reports – Thomson Datastream Index Service – Historical Index Constituents – Lookup the TOB Key for the index and select the month you want.
Using Datastream you need a little knowledge of the DS Mnemonics for constituent lists. For example:
- LFTSE100 is the constituent list for the current FTSE100
- LFTSE1000196 is the oldest historical list (Jan 1996 – 0106) and
- LFTSE1000410 much more recent (Apr 2010 – 0410).
Other historical constituent lists follow the same pattern. Not all the historical constituent lists are directly selectable in the Datastream Navigator, you may have to manually edit to get the code for a specific month and year e.g. LFTSE100MMYY.
For a detailed example see Historical FTSE100 Index Constituents on Datastream (July 2012)
Bloomberg also has a member function (MEMB) that can be used to give a list index constituents. Historical information (typically from 2001) is available by using the “Edit” option to change the date.
WRDS provides access to S&P index constituents.
Global Financial Database
Note: Global Financial Database for historical data (posted June 2014) is a revised and updated version of this post.
Global Financial Database (GFD) provides access to financial and economic time-series data with more than 6500 series covering 150 countries worldwide. Two key characteristics of GFD:
- Long historical time-series data – e.g. for most countries GFD provides GDP data going back 100+ years. (screenshot below)
- Ease of access – available on any University of Manchester PC (and off-campus using VPN)
Analysis of long-term data is a main market for GFD as illustrated in their White Papers and Global History of Currencies.
Global Financial Data – GDP search – click to enlarge
GFD Search Engines – GFD Filter Search – GFDatabase: Country-ALL, Series Group-ALL and Main Indicators-GDP
The web interface of GFD contrasts with other specialist databases providing both financial and economic data, e.g. Bloomberg and Datastream, which are only licensed for specific PCs.
How Business News can enhance your Research
Business news can be very useful for gaining a detailed international, national and even regional perspective on current and/or historical company/industry events. Search across international news sources, eg: newspapers, news feeds, magazines and industry trade publications, to find up-to-date information and to place events and issues in a social or political context.
How can Business News Help Me?
Use Business News to complement and enhance your company / industry research, many sources may not have the most up to date information for company / industry events. Business news can help you understand what is happening right now and monitor events as they unfold.
- Gain a detailed perspective on current/historical political issues and events
- Keep up to date with company/industry events as they unfold
- Examine political, economic and market trends
- Track company announcements/results
- Examine historic / current mergers, acquisitions, deals
- Research key political, economic or company personnel
- Gain a competitive advantage for job applications/interviews
Our primary source for business news is Factiva, providing international news (in many languages) from global, national and regional sources including newspapers, news websites, newsfeeds, stock exchange feeds, and business/industry specific magazines.
Factiva will provide news dating back to the early 1980’s. For further historical research you can also consult our Financial Times and Economist archives which provide a full text archive of every issue of the Financial Times and the Economist from the mid 1800’s including market listings, photos, adverts and indicator tables. These are great resources for understanding the impact of historical events on company/market/economic developments.
For further information see our “How to Research: Business News” and our guide to searching “Factiva” available from the Helping You section of the MBS Library website:
Other Business Research Posts:
Related Manchester Business Answers Questions:
Expert advice from Harvard Business Review book series
The Harvard Business Review Paperback series brings together inspiring and useful perspectives on various management topics, all in one place. Articles from the 
familiar leading Harvard Business Review quarterly journal are gathered into paperbacks each of which focusses on key management topics such as negotiating, decision-making, communicating, career advancement, marketing and others.
In common with its journal, these paperbacks compile some of the best articles, carefully selected, with contributions from existing experts in the field as well as rising stars. They share their knowledge, experience, ideas and thinking, to make the books compilations of best practice. Each book is succinct enough to make it a convenient reference point or just to dip into when needed.
Contributors include partners and CEOs, entrepreneurs, academics from leading management and business schools and founders of successful businesses. Chapters look at a diverse range of management topics:
• How not to manage customer loyalty
• The risk of hiring stars
• Managing virtuoso teams
• Why men still get more promotions than women
• Hidden traps in decision-making
• How to pitch a brilliant idea
• When to walk away from a deal
and much more! Read it for yourself – MBS Library now has the most recently published of this set available to borrow. Titles include: Advancing Your Career; Aligning Technology with Strategy; Building Better Teams; Communicating Effectively; Finding & Keeping the Best People; Increasing Customer Loyalty; Making Smart Decisions; Winning Negotiations; Reinventing Your Marketing; Managing Your Career in Tough Times and Greening Your Business Profitably. A copy of each is available both in Precinct and Eddie Davies libraries Search the Library catalogue
Which business and management journal database is best?
The following graphic from JISC-ADAT (Academic Database Assesment Tool) illustrates why there is no definitive answer to questions like:
- Is ABI Inform (Proquest) or Business Source Premier (EBSCO) better?
The ADAT screenshot below shows the results of comparing:
- ABI Inform (Proquest) – over 3000 business and management publications – many in full-text
- Business Source Premier (EBSCO) – over 6000 business publications – many in full-text
- Scopus – over 18,000 top journals (all subjects) bibliographic information only
Journal database comparison from JISC ADAT – Click on image and then select ABI/INFORM, Business Source Premier and Scopus to re-create
Comparing ABI Inform and Business Source Premier: While there is an overlap between these two, searching just one of these databases will ignore a large number of publications/titles that is available in the other.
Comparing ABI Inform, Business Source Premier and Scopus: Most top academic journals are covered by Scopus, but these are just part of what is available through ABI Inform and Business Source Premier. Even considering just the publications/titles covered by Scopus, only about half of the titles are covered by both ABI Inform and Business Source Premier.
It is best to explore different journal databases – you will probably find what is best depends on the type of results you are seeking.
New look to the University’s secure login pages
From Monday 20 June, you will see a new screen whenever you are asked to login to a secure University web page via CAS (central authentication system). You will come across this screen when accessing many of the library’s online databases either on or off-campus.
The new login screen is designed to be more user friendly and to work better with mobile devices such as smartphones and portal hand held devices.
Don’t worry none of your login details need to change and, as always, IT Services recommends that you follow some simple rules to stay secure:
- Always check the address of any web page that asks for your University username and password.
- Never respond to an email that asks for your University username and password.
Finding companies in an industry – industry/sector codes
Industry or sector codes are a useful resource for identifying the companies in an industry. SIC (Standard Industry Codes) are the most common, but SIC does come in US and UK variants so some care is needed. In addition, companies have a primary SIC code (their largest area of business) and other secondary SIC codes.
Below is a FAME screenshot looking for UK supermarkets – the UK SIC code 5211 is used by most except Asda which uses 5227. (Since the search is on all SIC codes it picks up companies you would not normally classify as supermarkets.)
FAME retail search – click to enlarge
Alternative approaches –
Market research reports can be an excellent resource for identifying the key companies in an industry, e.g. for UK supermarkets, Keynote has the Supermarkets 2010 Business Ratio Report.
Share/stock classifications such as the ICB (Industry Classification Benchmark) and the GICS (General Industry Classification Scheme) are used to classify companies from the perspective of investors. For the ICB, supermarkets are in Sector 5330 (Food and Drug Retailers) – remember that this will only identify quoted companies so UK companies in this sector will not include Asda which is a subsidiary of the US co Wal-Mart.
Overall, if you want to identify quoted companies based on their investment sector this is fairly straightforward. If you want to identify companies based on their operations, industry codes are a good start but you probably want to cross-check using other resources.
How to Target and Research Potential Employers
The MBS Library Service provides access to key resources and databases which can assist you with your job search, interview preparation and Career development plan.
Careers Guides
Find publications relating to your career developemnt eg. Managing your career, CV/Interview preparation and tips on networking techniques, via the Library Catalogue.
Company Research Databases
Use the databases located in the “Databases” section of the Library’s “E-Resources” page to:
- Target Listings of UK/International companies
- Locate details of top companies in specific sectors
- Research latest company developments
Target and Research Companies: Access FAME/ORBIS
- Identify and create target sector lists for UK/International companies
- Establish top companies/key competitors in specific markets/sectors
- Examine and Compare Financial performance of companies
- Analyse a company’s performance against key competitors
- Examine Corporate structures, board members and key contacts
Research Company News and Developments: Access FACTIVA
- Enhance your background knowledge for applications and interviews
- Examine latest company/industry developments from leading global news and trade publications
- Examine the impact of the latest political/economic events on companies/industries
- Up to 20 years of news updated daily
Other Library Databases
- Research Market Analysis – Access Mintel, Keynote, Passport GMID, Frost and Sullivan, providing detailed tailored analysis for international and consumer markets . See the “Markets and Sectors” section of the Library Databases page.
- Create Company/Industry Capsules – Access Business Source Premier (Business Searching Interface) providing brief company/industry snapshots for key international companies and markets. See the “Management Literature” section of the Library Databases page.
Specialist Databases: Access BLOOMBERG (available for use within the Eddie Davies Library)
- Locate essential data within the “Bloomberg Careers Centre”
- Provides the Facility to search for Jobs/Recruiters by region
- Details upcoming Job Related Events
- Lists latest Job Postings
Additional Sources: VAULT (Online Careers Portal)
In addition to the Library databases on offer, MBS students have access to an online careers portal via their own career service. Vault provides:
- Online career development guides
- Occupational profiles
- Articles and online videos offering career/personal development advice.
To access Vault contact your University Careers Service adviser
Further Information on how to find, access and search any of the library databases detailed within this guide can be found on the Library’s E-Resources page.
The Library is providing a season of Open Training programmes over the Summer including sessions in July on Targeting and Researching Potential Employers
A detailed guide which expands further on the information provided above is also available via the Library Web-site.
Retail Analysis: A New Look
Retail Analysis is an international retail market information database providing in-depth company, sector and country reports for the retailing industry and an excellent starting point for researching international retailing intellingence particularly the global food retailing sector.
Regular users will notice there have been a few changes to the database recently as it now boasts a new and even easier to use interface providing quick and seamless access to company profiles, country overviews, latest news, market shares, in-store layouts (inc photo’s!) and analysis by retailing theme. In addition to tailored reports/presentations the Retail Datacentre and Country Macro Datacentre provide the opportunity to customise comparable data and export and analyse in an xls spreadsheet.
To access Retail Analysis, see “Markets & Sectors” via the library databases on the MBS Library website: http://www.mbs.ac.uk/library.
Further help on accessing and using Retail Analysis see our Helping You – Research Guides section via our website.
Referencing tips
Business Research Plus 