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The renamed Index – the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index – is the collaborative effort of Reuters, the global information company, and Jefferies Financial Products, LLC, a leading provider of commodity-related products for institutional investors and a subsidiary of Jefferies Group, Inc. On June 20, 2005 , the Index will officially become the “RJ/CRB”, undergoing the most significant revision in its nearly fifty year history with changes in weighting, methodology and commodity representation.
Developed in 1957, the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index is one of the most often cited indicators of overall commodity prices. Originally, the CRB Index was weighted heavily towards agricultural commodities. Since its inception, it has been revised nine times to be more representative of a broader range of commodity prices, particularly energy. This tenth change brings the Reuters/Jefferies CRB in line with the evolution of a rapidly expanding commodity futures market. The RJ/CRB Index continues to offer investors a broad and reliable benchmark for the performance of the commodity sector; it now represents nineteen commodity futures markets, including all five of the NYBOT primary agricultural products (cocoa, coffee, cotton, FCOJ and sugar).
“The transition to the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index comes at a significant time for the futures industry,” stated NYBOT President and CEO C. Harry Falk. “Many portfolio managers and individual investors are turning to commodities as an important alternative asset class that may provide critical portfolio diversification, and the RJ/CRB market at the New York Board of Trade offers serious investors access to the commodities market though a single financial instrument with less volatility than generally found in many individual commodities.”
New York ’s original futures exchange began trading the CRB in its index marketplace in 1986; the name of the index changed to the Reuters CRB Index in 2001. Now again renamed as the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, these contracts offer investors direct access to an asset class that may diversify their holdings, improve portfolio returns, reduce overall portfolio risk and hedge against inflation.
Trading in the RJ/CRB will commence on July 11, with the first listed month of September 2005. Effective with this introduction, the RJ/CRB futures will list four months on a quarterly cycle (March, June, September and December). The RJ/CRB contract will also feature a multiplier of $200 times the Index (down from $500 in the old CRB). The new contract size will provide easier access to the Index market. Real time data for the RJ/CRB will be generally available beginning June 20 th under the current CRB trading symbols.
The previous version of the Reuters CRB will be renamed the “Continuous Commodity Index” and will be made available for trading under the symbol “CI” after the close of business on June 17th. All outstanding open positions in the current Index will be rolled into the new product and trade under the symbol “CI”. The Exchange will continue to list new months for the CCI.
For more information on the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index and its contracts, go to www.nybot.com.
Reuters (www.reuters.com), the global information company, provides indispensable information tailored for professionals in the financial services, media and corporate markets. Its trusted information drives decision making across the globe based on a reputation for speed, accuracy and independence. Reuters has 14,500 staff in 91 countries. This includes 2,300 editorial staff in 196 bureaux serving 129 countries, making Reuters the world’s largest international multimedia news agency. In 2004, Reuters Group revenues were £2.9 billion.
Jefferies Financial Products, LLC (“JFP”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Jefferies Group, Inc., is dedicated to providing institutional investors with exposure to commodities as an asset class. JFP is a leading provider of liquidity in swaps, options, exchange-traded commodity index contracts and other customized products linked to commodities.
Jefferies (www.jefferies.com) , a global investment bank and institutional securities firm, has served growing and mid-sized companies and their investors for over 40 years. Headquartered in New York , with more than 20 offices around the world, Jefferies provides clients with capital markets and financial advisory services, institutional brokerage, securities research and asset management. Jefferies & Company, Inc. is the principal operating subsidiary of Jefferies Group, Inc.
The New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) is New York ’s original futures exchange, where the world trades food, fiber and financial products. For well over a century, the New York Board of Trade has provided reliability, integrity and security in a global marketplace for cocoa, coffee, cotton, ethanol, orange juice, pulp and sugar, as well as currency and index futures and options. Information about the New York Board of Trade can be found at www.nybot.com and www.nybotlive.com.
