Stellar returns from initial public offerings have prompted Atherstone Capital Markets, an investment bank and advisory services company, to launch the India IPO Index for both large- and mid-cap companies.

The index will include companies listing on the stock exchanges. The companies will be excluded from the index after completing six months of trading.

The Mumbai-headquartered firm has also launched three sectoral indices -- Atherstone BRIC Oil and Gas Index, BRIC Power Index and BRIC Bankex -- and is set to launch indices for sectors such as telecom, health and others.

"With the markets having crashed, there are a lot of opportunities for people who can do sub-segmentation within sectors. Also, the primary market is a function of the secondary market. So the IPO index can be an indicator of the market condition. We are targeting funds that want to invest in pre-IPO placements and IPOs. For the BRICs indices, we are targeting offshore funds and large institutional investors," said Gurunath Mudlapur, Chief Investment Officer, Atherstone Capital Markets.

A slew of indices have been launched in recent times to reflect the theme-based appetite for investing, which includes investments in the primary market and investments made according to religious principles and social governance parameters.

The Dow Jones, in association with Dharma Investments, has launched the Dow Jones Dharma index, measuring the performance of companies selected according to the value systems and principles of Dharmic religions, especially Hinduism and Buddhism.

Investing according to Shari'ah principles exists in India with Tata Select Equity Fund investing up to 50 per cent of net assets in any particular sector while prohibiting investments in sectors such as liquor, tobacco, consumer goods, finance and banking and interest-bearing securities.