Babcock booted off index

In a fall from grace that would have been considered unfathomable a year ago, S&P announced it would remove the investment group Babcock & Brown from the 484-member All Ordinaries index on March 20.

The changes will also see the removal of Babcock's Power and Infrastructure funds from the ASX 200 index, along with Centro Retail, the hedge fund investor HFA Holdings, Tishman Speyer and Macquarie DDR Trust.

In one of the biggest ever cleanouts of the ASX indices, S&P said it would dump 40 stocks from the All Ords, offering what some may consider a who's who victim list of the credit crunch.

These will include the Rubicon America, Japan and Europe Trusts, Clive Peeters, Allco Max, CEC Group, City Pacific, Mirvac Industrial Trust, Nick Scali, Hedley Leisure, ING Real Estate Entertainment Fund, three Multiplex property funds, Territory Resources and the failed stockbroker Austock.

The slump has allowed 66 former minnows to join the All Ords, including Living & Leisure, Little World Beverages, Country Road, OrotonGroup, SP Telemedia and Guinness Peat Group.

OZ Minerals and Alumina were taken off the S&P 50.