"The Dow Jones STOXX Indexes were created in 1998 to provide investors moving from a country to a regional investment approach with liquid, transparent and rules-based regional indexes in advance of the launch of the euro and the creation of the Eurozone. By launching these indexes the STOXX Limited partners set the standard for a new European index landscape. The great success of the Dow Jones STOXX indexes are proof that the partners, (Deutsche Boerse, SWX Swiss Exchange and Dow Jones) had the right vision in 1997," said Thorsten Neufeld, chairman of the Supervisory Board of STOXX, Ltd.
Ettore Candolfi, acting managing director of STOXX, Ltd., commenting on the anniversary, said: "The Dow Jones STOXX indexes are an example of European integration at its most successful. The indexes have provided the catalyst for a massive increase in cross border financial trading in a very short period. We even set the stage for global expansion by immediately including the Dow Jones STOXX indexes in the Dow Jones World index family. Today we are the index provider of choice for organizations considering European-based investment products."
The Dow Jones STOXX blue-chip indexes emerged as the most popular benchmarks for the European market and the Eurozone. They are the basis of the most liquid futures and options contracts in as well as more than 37% of the European market in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). They account for 50% of European products based on index baskets. The futures contract on the Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50 has the largest open interest (outstanding contracts) of all futures contracts in Europe and the second largest worldwide.
STOXX, Ltd. is a joint venture of Deutsche Boerse AG, SWX Swiss Exchange and Dow Jones Indexes. Dow Jones STOXX and Dow Jones indexes together form a globally integrated index family, which comprises a wide range of indexes covering world equity markets by country, region, stock size, sector and style (growth and value).
Milestones in the first five years of Dow Jones STOXX indexes include:
- June 15, 1998 - Sector indexes are launched.
- June 22, 1998 - Regional futures and options on Dow Jones STOXX 50 and Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50 blue-chip indexes begin trading.
- April 4, 2000 - First equity ETFs in Europe are launched based on Dow Jones STOXX 50 and Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50.
- September 18, 2000 - Dow Jones STOXX indexes become the first European indexes to adopt component weightings based on shares actually available to public investors (free float market capitalization) rather than all outstanding shares.
- July 18, 2001 - First European value and growth indexes are launched.
- October 15, 2001 - First European sustainability indexes are launched.
