The Russell Global Index is wrapping itself in the Canadian flag. In an annual rebalancing by Russell Investments, the index had added 110 Canadian stocks, bringing the total to 475 stocks with a total market capitalization of $1.6-trillion (U.S.). That's up 22 per cent from last year.

Perhaps more impressive, Canada is now the fourth largest market in terms of the number of stocks, behind the United States, Japan and India.

"The Canadian market has emerged from the global recession in relatively robust shape," said Steve Wood, chief market strategist for Russell Investments. "The amount of market activity in Canada captured and now reflected by our annual index reconstitution process is significant."

The index is certainly broad in scope. It tracks more than 10,000 stocks in 70 different countries, representing about 98 per cent of the investable universe of equities. Although we couldn't find an exchange-traded fund based on the index, Russell Investments claims that it acts as a proxy for asset allocation purposes. That means that more Canadian stocks in the index could translate into more international money managers scooping up Canadian stocks.