CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced it will launch E-mini S&P 500 Equal Weight futures on February 26, pending regulatory review.
While the S&P 500 Index weights companies based on market capitalization, the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index applies equal weight to all constituents in the index. The addition of these new E-mini contracts will give market participants another tool to deploy hedging and investment strategies across a broad range of potential market scenarios.
"The introduction of E-mini S&P 500 Equal Weight futures will provide market participants with a new way to access equity market breadth," said Paul Woolman, Global Head of Equity Products at CME Group. "As the S&P 500 becomes more heavily concentrated towards larger companies, these new contracts can provide a liquid, cost-efficient tool to gain equal exposure to all names in the index, further allowing traders to diversify their equity trading strategies."
"For generations, the S&P 500 has been widely regarded as the best single gauge of the U.S. equity market. To complement S&P DJI's iconic market benchmark, the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index was launched in January 2003, measuring the performance of equal allocations among S&P 500 constituents," said Bruce Schachne, Chief Commercial Officer at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "S&P DJI is excited to collaborate with CME Group as it expands its offering, and further reinforces the crucial role independent and transparent benchmarks play in the capital markets."
For more information, please visit: www.cmegroup.com/equalweight.
