Mr. Petronella succeeds current chairman Christoph Lammersdorf, managing director, Information Services, at Deutsche Boerse. The change is a result of the regular annual election of the chairman of the Supervisory Board.
Mr. Petronella, 47, president of Dow Jones Indexes/Ventures, was appointed managing director of Dow Jones Indexes in January 1997. He joined Dow Jones & Company in 1974 after receiving a bachelor's degree in accounting and an M.B.A. from Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J.
Elisabeth von Werra, 41, will be responsible for the day-to-day management of STOXX Limited and the global promotion, sale and distribution of the pan-European family of Dow Jones STOXX Indexes. The approximately 270 indexes cover sectors, sizes and style categories.
Christoph Lammersdorf, current chairman of the Supervisory Board of STOXX Limited, says: "Ms. von Werra is a recognized expert in financial management and an experienced leader with an excellent international reputation. With her business sense and her years of experience in fund management, Ms. von Werra is an ideal candidate for the STOXX Limited managing director and we are confident that she will build on the STOXX's success as the preferred index family for Europe."
Ms. von Werra has been fund manager at Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie in Geneva, where she managed the Industrial Fund, an equity fund invested globally in industrial companies. As chief analyst at Darier Hentsch & Cie, she also led the global equity research for industrials, which includes chemicals, basic materials, automotive, machinery, engineering, electronic & electrical equipment and building materials. Previously Ms. von Werra was chief financial officer of Akzo Nobel Polymer Chemicals Group in the Netherlands. She received an MBA at INSEAD, Paris, in 1992.
"The Dow Jones STOXX Indexes are the leading European benchmarks -- in Europe and globally. The indexes have all the characteristics necessary to underlie successful investment products, including transparency, consistency and a reputation for quality and innovation," Ms. von Werra said. "It is an exciting challenge for me to set the strategic direction of Europe's leading index provider and to continue the tradition of innovation that STOXX Limited and its partners have created over the last five years. I look forward to strengthening our dominant position in Europe and fully supporting our global expansion efforts.
