Dow Jones Indexes, an index provider, is licensing the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index and its nine sector sub-indexes to Eurex, derivatives exchanges and the clearing house in Europe, to underlie standardized exchange-traded futures and options contracts. Eurex plans to launch derivatives in the first quarter of 2009.
This is the first time the nine Dow Jones AIG Commodity Sub-Sector Indexes serve as the basis for futures and options contracts. The nine indexes are the Dow Jones-AIG Energy, the Dow Jones-AIG Petroleum, the Dow Jones-AIG Livestock, the Dow Jones-AIG Ex-Energy, the Dow Jones-AIG Grains, the Dow Jones-AIG Industrial Metals, the Dow Jones-AIG Precious Metals, the Dow Jones-AIG Softs, and the Dow Jones-AIG Agriculture sub-indexes.
“Commodities enjoy a vast recognition by market participants who are aiming to expand their portfolio beyond traditional equity asset classes,” says Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes. “The Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index series offers a variety of sophisticated benchmarks to measure the commodities market as a whole, or to concentrate on single commodities or sectors. The superior methodology provides a balanced weighting of the 19 commodities in this family.”
“Our planned derivatives on the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Indexes will significantly increase our product offering in the commodities area,” says Peter Reitz, member of the Eurex Executive board. “This is another milestone in our strategy to offer our customers multi-asset class products on a global scale. We will add transparency and central clearing to the existing OTC index swap market.”
Further information on the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Indexes is available at www.djindexes.com.
D.C.