55. Many fund managers are benchmarked against the FTSE Gilt indices. If the GGBs were included in the Index, holdings could be benchmarked against it. The FTSE Actuaries Bond Indices Committee rejected the GGBs for inclusion in the Index. To comply with the index requirements would probably have required the bonds to be direct on balance sheet obligations of HM Government. As a consequence of non-inclusion, some investors could not treat the GGBs as Gilts even if they had been identical in every other respect. Instead, they would be treated like other non-Gilt bonds. The GGBs were finally sold at spreads slightly tighter than that of comparable risk-free, but non-Gilt, bonds, such as EIB and KfW. This being the case, some investors declined the GGBs in preference for the likes of EIB from which they could earn a slightly higher yield. We have spoken to major UK pension funds who either did not participate in the transaction or purchased fewer bonds for this reason.