Designing the right index for you
Guillaume Flinois
As index-based investment becomes increasingly popular, there’s growing demand for bespoke versions of our core benchmarks. FTSE Russell can help you find or design the right index for your investment needs.
In recent years the diversity in the investment requirements of our clients has increased dramatically.
Change is accelerating, whether it’s the impact of AI, climate change, the macro environment, the political landscape, shifting trade flows or elections.
Our clients are interested not just in our flagship standard indices, like the FTSE 100, the Russell 2000 or the FTSE World Government Bond Index, but in adaptations of these and other benchmarks.
We’ve observed an increased demand for customisation and personalisation. And, there’s an increased polarisation of views on the best strategies.
Financial institutions, asset owners and asset managers all have their own opinions on the world, the economy and how the financial markets will evolve. They want to implement their individual investment strategies and have their own say on changing the index parameters.
Investors are increasingly specifying which countries, sectors and companies they may or may not wish to invest in. One client may want to exclude defence stocks, another to halve the carbon intensity of a portfolio.
We can easily tailor these specifications into our standard index rules. Our research and design team have the flexibility to change parameters, implement them and achieve the level of customisation our clients need.
Many clients choose quantitative models for the implementation of overlay strategies or construction approaches like sampling, target exposure, optimisations to meet investment objectives.
We can deliver these customisations on demand for each client, whether that’s a European asset manager, a US endowment fund or a Middle Eastern sovereign.
Clients are also under increasing pressure to set out how they do things and what's important to them, their shareholders and stakeholders – indices can provide such transparency.
Taking advantage of market trends
We see our role as helping clients take advantage of market trends and dynamics—to help them tailor indices where they see gaps and opportunities in the market.
Our investor and asset owner clients want to put their money to work in the most effective way. Our product issuer clients, such as asset managers, ETF issuers and banks, are trying to spot new product opportunities.
Our transparent governance structure and our index expertise are some of the reasons why people come to FTSE Russell for solutions.
Our clients view us as partners. Our research teams can deconstruct markets to identify the drivers and help our clients navigate the constantly changing markets.
Our classifications and index standards set ground rules, and deliver frameworks for use in asset allocation and investment strategy setting.
We constantly invest in our technology platforms to deliver efficiency, quality and flexibility. We promise engagement and spend time with clients to really understand and address their needs.
As our clients navigate the constantly changing markets, we are there to help them design solutions that match their precise requirements.
We’re observing an increasing demand for customisation and personalisation. And, there’s an increasing polarisation of views on the best strategy.
Guillaume Flinois
We can deliver these customisations on demand to each client, whether that’s a European asset manager, a US endowment or a Middle Eastern sovereign.
Gerald Toledano
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Disclaimer
© 2024 London Stock Exchange Group plc and its applicable group undertakings (“LSEG”). LSEG includes (1) FTSE International Limited (“FTSE”), (2) Frank Russell Company (“Russell”), (3) FTSE Global Debt Capital Markets Inc. and FTSE Global Debt Capital Markets Limited (together, “FTSE Canada”), (4) FTSE Fixed Income Europe Limited (“FTSE FI Europe”), (5) FTSE Fixed Income LLC (“FTSE FI”), (6) FTSE (Beijing) Consulting Limited (“WOFE”) (7) Refinitiv Benchmark Services (UK) Limited (“RBSL”), (8) Refinitiv Limited (“RL”) and (9) Beyond Ratings S.A.S. (“BR”). All rights reserved.
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