News (incl. corporate)

Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”), a leading provider of corporate governance and responsible investment solutions, fund intelligence, and events and editorial content for institutional investors and corporations, today announced the completion of its transaction to add Qontigo’s index business under the newly created “ISS STOXX” group of companies. The Qontigo index business will be rebranded “STOXX.”

Thematic indices can offer diversification and market-beating returns, in some cases by using innovative index methodologies, says Christoph Schon at Qontigo.

The ISS STOXX Biodiversity Index Suite, launched this week, aims to take a more holistic approach to biodiversity than existing market offerings, Antonio Celeste, Director for Sustainability Product Management at index, analytics and risk solutions provider Qontigo, told ESG Investor.

Our Sustainable Investments team has produced a document detailing the methodology for reporting the sustainable investment percentage of STOXX and DAX indices. The rules are aligned with the spirit of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and are designed, among other things, to bring specificity and flexibility when constructing sustainable portfolios.

In parallel to the takeover of SimCorp A/S, Deutsche Börse AG intends to combine its existing data & analytics subsidiaries Qontigo and ISS under one leadership. Upon completion of the offer, the combination of Qontigo/ISS and SimCorp A/S will be grouped within a newly created Investment Management Solutions segment to drive further growth, efficiencies, and full value crystallisation. This includes the option of a potential IPO for the combined ISS/Qontigo business in the medium term.

Qontigo has licensed the global STOXX ESG Länder PAB Index family to four German federal states. PAB (Paris-aligned Benchmark) stands for the most ambitious EU regulation regarding fossil exclusion criteria and greenhouse gas decarbonization for index providers.

Qontigo is proud to announce the unveiling of a new version of its logo, featuring our Chinese name, 旷势 (Kuangshi).

The last two years have been among the most eventful in the blue-chip DAX® index’s three-decade life. Qontigo, which manages the German benchmark and its entire family of indices, has since 2020 pursued DAX’s biggest overhaul since its inception. The aim has been to bolster the quality of constituent companies, bring selection criteria in line with international standards and improve representativeness.

The customized index is an optimized solution that balances multiple investment objectives and uses various inputs, including LGIM’s proprietary ESG data.

Dutch pension fund manager APG, which co-designed the responsible-investment indices with Qontigo, has received an award from Pensioen Pro for its pioneering work following the introduction of the indices.

About 85% of respondents in the Index Industry Association (IIA)’s second annual ESG survey indicated ESG has become more of a priority for their firms in the past year, even as equity prices fell and energy markets were roiled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In modifying how DAX composition changes are fixed and publicized every quarter, Qontigo is providing index trackers more visibility and a more stable base upon which to trade the changes and replicate the index.