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STOXX Limited, a global index provider and creator of the leading European equity indices, today announced that the STOXX Europe Christian Index has been licensed to Deutsche Bank AG to serve as the underlying for an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The db x-trackers STOXX Europe Christian Index ETF is available on Xetra.
"The STOXX Europe Christian Index has been launched to meet market participants' demand for a benchmark which measures the performance of European companies who act responsibly on an ethical, environmental, social and economical level and therefore according to the values of the Christian religion," said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX Ltd. "By licensing the STOXX Europe Christian Index, Deutsche Bank offers the first ETF based on this index."
"By licensing the STOXX Europe Christian Index for the latest addition to our ETF portfolio, we are adding a product which offers exposure to index components selected according to social and moral doctrines," said Thorsten Michalik, global head of db x-trackers ETFs. "We know that for many investors, ethical aspects are closely linked to capital investment."
Launched on April 26, 2010 in collaboration with Christian Brothers Investment Services, Inc., trading in Europe as CBIS Global, the STOXX Europe Christian Index is the first Christian equity index for the European region. It is meant to enable investors to participate in the performance of companies which are compliant with Christian moral and social doctrines.
To ensure the quality of the index and the integrity of the underlying index methodology, an independent committee has been established to define, build and implement the screening criteria. It is made up from experts of the Christian community, as well as members of the academic and investment community. To be included in the index, stocks must pass a set of screens for compliance with Christian values and principles. Excluded from the index are companies which do not meet predetermined tolerance levels for certain areas of activity, such as for example pornography, strategic and non-strategic weapons, birth control and gambling.
The index universe for the STOXX Europe Christian Index is defined as all stocks in the STOXX Europe 600 Index. The index is weighted by free-float adjusted market capitalization, and each component's weight is capped at 20% of the index's total free-float market capitalization. It is reviewed semi-annually in June and December. Daily history is available back to December 31, 2004. The STOXX Europe Christian Index is available in price and net return versions, and is calculated in Euro and U.S. Dollar (USD).
Further information on the STOXX Europe Christian Index is available at www.stoxx.com.
