Dow Jones Indexes, a global-index provider, and Wilshire Associates Incorporated, an investment consulting, management and technology firm, have announced the signing of an agreement to co-brand, calculate, maintain and disseminate four flagship Wilshire indexes and create a new global family of co-branded benchmark indexes.
Beginning in April 2004, Dow Jones Indexes will calculate, license and market the newly named Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index, Dow Jones Wilshire 4500 Completion Index, Dow Jones Wilshire REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) and Dow Jones Wilshire RESI (Real Estate Securities Index) indexes. In the second quarter of 2004, Dow Jones Indexes will assume the calculation and marketing of the Dow Jones Wilshire Style Indexes. Dow Jones Indexes and Wilshire Associates also plan to develop a global family of co-branded benchmark indexes. The first of these, the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Composite Index, is scheduled for launch in the fourth quarter of 2004.
The Dow Jones Wilshire indexes will be free-float weighted, using the existing Dow Jones Indexes free-float methodologies that remove corporate shares that aren’t available for public trading. However, the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index, Dow Jones Wilshire 4500 Completion Index, Dow Jones Wilshire REIT and Dow Jones Wilshire RESI will continue to be calculated with full shares for the sake of historical data continuity. The Dow Jones Wilshire Indexes also will use the Dow Jones Global Classification Standard, which will transition to the Dow Jones/FTSE Industry Classification Benchmark structure later this year.
“This partnership will satisfy market demand for a float-adjusted Dow Jones Wilshire 5000, the most comprehensive index measuring U.S. equities,” said Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes/Ventures. “This is the index that is preferred by benchmark users including plan sponsors, consultants, money managers and researchers. We expect this partnership to be very successful.”
“When I developed the Wilshire 5000 Index in 1974, I had no idea that 30 years later it would have gained such widespread acceptance and favor as the preferred measure of the total U.S. securities market,” commented Dennis A. Tito, chairman and founder of Wilshire Associates Incorporated. “Today, scores of institutional investors, money managers, financial advisors, media – and even the Federal Reserve Bank – look to the Wilshire 5000 to get an accurate picture of the movement of our capital markets and the amount of wealth gained or lost. I’m excited by this alliance and we look forward to working with Dow Jones Indexes in developing additional indexes for investors worldwide.”
The Dow Jones Wilshire Indexes will be available on market data vendor platforms, many in real-time format, and on the Dow Jones Indexes and Wilshire Associates Web sites. Dow Jones Indexes will also distribute data related to the Dow Jones Wilshire Indexes to data vendors and other users.