Alibaba Health and Haidilao to join benchmark

Alibaba Health Information Technology and Haidilao International Holding will be added to Hong Kong’s stock benchmark, ahead of a potential major revamp for the gauge, Bloomberg reports.

Longfor Group Holdings will also join the Hang Seng Index, which will expand to 55 members from 52, Hang Seng Indexes Co. announced late Friday following its quarterly review. The changes are effective March 15.

The disclosure comes as the company plans to unveil Monday whether it will go ahead with what would be one of the biggest overhauls in the history of the Hang Seng Index. The firm released five proposals two months ago for public comment, including possibly increasing the gauge’s size to 80 members and fast-tracking the inclusion of major new listings in Hong Kong.

Some significant changes occurred last year. Hang Seng Indexes allowed companies with dual-class structures or secondary listings to become eligible to be added its namesake benchmark, clearing the way for tech firms Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Xiaomi Corp. to join. Three consumer-focused companies were then added in December as the number of components rose to a record 52 after remaining at 50 since 2012.

The Hang Seng Index, tracked by tens of billions of dollars in pension-fund assets and exchange-traded funds, has been shifting from dominance in old-economy sectors like financials. While 43 percent of the index’s weighting was in financials as of December 4, versus 24 percent for the information technology sector, IT was the Hang Seng’s largest sector by market value at 35 percent, twice that of financials.