STOXX Limited, the market-moving provider of innovative, tradable and global index concepts, today announced that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp. (MUTB), the leading Japanese trust bank, to create and market new smart-beta indices.
Under the terms of the agreement, MUTB plans to license a wide variety of STOXX indices - in particular, from STOXX’s smart-beta suite - to create investment products to increase its smart-beta offering to retail and institutional clients. STOXX also plans to develop smart-beta indices with support from MUTB.
“STOXX is pleased to enter into this agreement with MUTB,” said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX Limited. “The memorandum of understanding we both have signed shows STOXX’s commitment to Japan and Asia and marks another important step in our expansion in the region.”
Tatsuo Wakabayashi, president, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp., said: “MUTB has been developing its investment expertise in global markets. We believe the collaboration between STOXX and MUTB will provide new smart-beta indices to institutional and retail investors to meet their diversified demand.”
As a first step in this project, MUTB has licensed the STOXX Japan 600 Minimum Variance Unconstrained Index for an institutional passive fund.
MUTB is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. With assets of 31.4 trillion yen as of Mar. 31, 2014, it is one of Japan's largest trust banks. MUTB serves customers through a worldwide network of branches and subsidiaries in Asia, Europe and the United States.
Please see www.stoxx.com for further information.
