The Hang Seng Index, Hong Kong’s stock benchmark, will increase its constituent stocks from 52 to 80 by mid-2022, ultimately expanding to 100, under a sweeping reform, the index’s compiler said on Monday.

The overhaul of the 52-year-old benchmark will include limiting any one stock’s weighting to 8% and selecting constituents from seven industry categories. The changes, which will start in May, come after Hang Seng Indexes finished a consultation on its proposed reforms.

The company does not have a timetable for increasing the number of constituents to 100 – a higher target than the 65-80 companies originally proposed.

In the lead-up to mid-2022, the HSI will conduct five index reviews and increase the number of constituents in phases, said Daniel Wong, the director and head of research at Hang Seng Indexes.

The percentage of Hong Kong firms in HSI-constituent stocks falls from the present 41.5% to 33.1% in simulations that expanded the constituents to 80, Wong said.

Another reform will allow newly listed companies to become index constituents. Firms can be added to the index three months after being listed on the market, down from the current requirement of two years.

Some investment managers in Hong Kong said the reforms were in line with market expectations.

The expansion to 100 constituents is intended to create space for mainland Chinese tech giants already listed in Hong Kong, said Kenny Wen, wealth management strategist at Everbright Sun Hung Kai.

Video-sharing platform Kuaishou, e-commerce company JD.com and car manufacturer BYD were among those likely to be added to the index, Wen said.

The reforms will likely create a better representation of various industries, adjusting the heavy weighting of financial companies in the current index, said OCBC Wing Hang Bank economist Carie Li.

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