The iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index complements Singapore’s established benchmarks and is the first of the iEdge indices designed to promote market development and investor engagement. Its key distinction lies in excluding the 30 most actively traded stocks by market capitalisation, allowing it to operate alongside the Straits Times Index (STI) without overlap or dilution of the STI’s long established identity.
The constituents of the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index maintain a combined market capitalisation of S$87 billion, with average daily turnover (ADT) of S$160 million in the 2025 year to Sep 24.
Yesterday, Index constituent Food Empire Holdings ranked as the seventh most traded stock in the local market, after completing a treasury share placement. This brings the ADT of the multinational F&B manufacturer and distributor to S$1.8 million for the 2025 year to Sep 24, up from S$1.1 million in 1H25 and S$0.67 million in 2024.
Food Empire Places S$42.8 million in Shares, Boosts Liquidity
On Sep 24, Food Empire Holdings secured S$42.8 million in gross proceeds by placing 17 million treasury shares at S$2.52 apiece. The placement propelled the company to become the seventh most actively traded stock on that day. The S$2.52 price represented a 5.38% discount to the previous day’s volume-weighted average price (vwap) and a premium of 3.27% to the 30-day vwap. Moreover, the placement monetised treasury shares acquired through share buybacks acquired at an average cost of S$0.901 or consideration value of S$15.3 million.
The placement attracted strong interest from institutional investors including Amova Asset Management, ICH Capital, and Lion Global Investors, and increased the company’s issued share capital, excluding treasury shares, to 546.8 million shares. The placement also reduced the number of its treasury shares to 3.3 million treasury shares.
Food Empire Holdings highlighted that the placement enables efficient capital redeployment while boosting trading liquidity and market float. The Group noted that stronger liquidity enhances price discovery, supports index inclusion, and attracts a broader institutional investor base—strengthening its flexibility for future strategic initiatives and employee incentive programmes. It also stated that the placement positions the Group to pursue growth opportunities, optimise its balance sheet, and reinforce long-term investor confidence.
Multiple Lenses, Liquidity & Valuations
With the long runway for market reforms, the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index will likely be complimented by multiple Indices that take thematic tilts, much like the recent developments in the local ETF market.
For the moment, much market attention has been on segment of stocks that have seen both liquidity growth and valuation accretion. As of today, the 10 constituents of the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index that have ranked among the constituents with the highest top-tier growth across both liquidity and valuation metrics in 3Q25 are tabled below.
Note ADT refers to Average Daily Trading Turnover, NIF refers to Net Institutional Flow, TR refers to Total Return. Sources: SGX, LSEG Workspace. Data as of Sep, 24 2025.
Capitalisation & Liquidity Mechanics of the iEdge Next 50 Index
The iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index comprises 50 Mainboard-listed stocks. To be selected constituent must maintain at least S$100 million market capitalisation, and a median S$100,000 daily turnover (MDT) over the past 6 months. Constituents must also maintain a free float ratio of at least 15%. As noted above it excludes the 30 actively traded largest capitalised stocks. Then, from the wide universe of local stocks that match this criteria, the index follows the usual method of selecting the largest stocks by market capitalisation.
Another key part of the selection process is the liquidity as further gauged through the ratio of MDT to the free float market capitalisation. To qualify, new Index constituents must maintain a minimum median daily traded velocity of 0.10% over a 6 month period. Note that with the aforementioned minimum S$100,000 in MDT and S$100 million market capitalisation which assume for this example is 100% free float, the stock would have a daily turnover velocity ratio of 0.10%. Thereafter, existing constituents must meet a minimum median daily traded velocity of 0.08% over a 6 month period.
At each rebalance, Index constituents are weighted using a capped free float market capitalisation weighting scheme, with a maximum weight cap of 5% per individual stock. The complete and relatively simple Index methodology is available here.
