The Index
All disclosures contained in this term sheet regarding the Index, including, without limitation, its make-up, method of calculation, and changes in its components, have been derived from publicly available sources. The information reflects the policies of, and is subject to change by, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (the “Index sponsor”). The Index sponsor, which licenses the copyright and all other rights to the Index, has no obligation to continue to publish, and may discontinue publication of, the Index. The consequences of the Index sponsor discontinuing publication of the Index are discussed in the section of the accompanying product supplement beginning on page PS-19 entitled “Description of the LIRNs—Discontinuance of an Index.” None of us, BAC, the calculation agent, MLPF&S or BofAS accepts any responsibility for the calculation, maintenance or publication of the Index or any successor index.
The Index is intended to provide an indication of the pattern of common stock price movement. The calculation of the level of the Index is based on the relative value of the aggregate market value of the common stocks of 500 companies as of a particular time compared to the aggregate average market value of the common stocks of 500 similar companies during the base period of the years 1941 through 1943.
The Index includes companies from eleven main groups: Communication Services; Consumer Discretionary; Consumer Staples; Energy; Financials; Health Care; Industrials; Information Technology; Real Estate; Materials; and Utilities. The Index sponsor may from time to time, in its sole discretion, add companies to, or delete companies from, the Index to achieve the objectives stated above.
The Index sponsor calculates the Index by reference to the prices of the constituent stocks of the Index without taking account of the value of dividends paid on those stocks. As a result, the return on the notes will not reflect the return you would realize if you actually owned the Index constituent stocks and received the dividends paid on those stocks.
Computation of the Index
While the Index sponsor currently employs the following methodology to calculate the Index, no assurance can be given that the Index sponsor will not modify or change this methodology in a manner that may affect the Redemption Amount.
Historically, the market value of any component stock of the Index was calculated as the product of the market price per share and the number of then outstanding shares of such component stock. In March 2005, the Index sponsor began shifting the Index halfway from a market capitalization weighted formula to a float-adjusted formula, before moving the Index to full float adjustment on September 16, 2005. The Index sponsor’s criteria for selecting stocks for the Index did not change with the shift to float adjustment. However, the adjustment affects each company’s weight in the Index.
Under float adjustment, the share counts used in calculating the Index reflect only those shares that are available to investors, not all of a company’s outstanding shares. Float adjustment excludes shares that are closely held by control groups, other publicly traded companies or government agencies.
In September 2012, all shareholdings representing more than 5% of a stock’s outstanding shares, other than holdings by “block owners,” were removed from the float for purposes of calculating the Index. Generally, these “control holders” will include officers and directors, private equity, venture capital and special equity firms, other publicly traded companies that hold shares for control, strategic partners, holders of restricted shares, ESOPs, employee and family trusts, foundations associated with the company, holders of unlisted share classes of stock, government entities at all levels (other than government retirement/pension funds) and any individual person who controls a 5% or greater stake in a company as reported in regulatory filings. However, holdings by block owners, such as depositary banks, pension funds, mutual funds and ETF providers, 401(k) plans of the company, government retirement/pension funds, investment funds of insurance companies, asset managers and investment funds, independent foundations and savings and investment plans, will ordinarily be considered part of the float.
Treasury stock, stock options, equity participation units, warrants, preferred stock, convertible stock, and rights are not part of the float. Shares held in a trust to allow investors in countries outside the country of domicile, such as depositary shares and Canadian exchangeable shares, are normally part of the float unless those shares form a control block. If a company has multiple classes of stock outstanding, shares in an unlisted or non-traded class are treated as a control block.
For each stock, an investable weight factor (“IWF”) is calculated by dividing the available float shares by the total shares outstanding. Available float shares are defined as the total shares outstanding less shares held by control holders. This calculation is subject to a 5% minimum threshold for control blocks. For example, if a company’s officers and directors hold 3% of the company’s shares, and no other control group holds 5% of the company’s shares, the Index sponsor would assign that company an IWF of 1.00, as no control group meets the 5% threshold. However, if a company’s officers and directors hold 3% of the company’s shares and another control group holds 20% of the company’s shares, the Index sponsor would assign an IWF of 0.77, reflecting the fact that 23% of the company’s outstanding shares are considered to be held for control. As of July 31, 2017, companies with multiple share class lines are no longer eligible for inclusion in the Index. Constituents of the Index prior to July 31, 2017 with multiple share class lines will be grandfathered in and continue to be included in the Index. If a constituent company of the Index reorganizes into a multiple share class line structure, that company will remain in the Index at the discretion of the S&P Index Committee in order to minimize turnover.
The Index is calculated using a base-weighted aggregate methodology. The level of the Index reflects the total market value of all component stocks relative to the base period of the years 1941 through 1943. An indexed number is used to represent the results of this calculation in order to make the level easier to work with and track over time. The actual total market value of the component stocks during the base period of the years 1941 through 1943 has been set to an indexed level of 10. This is often indicated by the notation