News & Research

This whitepaper takes a comprehensive and in-depth look at the objective, methodology, coverage and calculation of the VSTOXX indices in the most complete study on the topic from STOXX to date. It also reviews the strategies and available derivatives tracking the main VSTOXX, which have underpinned volatility’s status as a separate asset class.

Throughout 2022 and into 2023, the EM gauge has shown lower forecast and realized volatility than the global DM benchmark. A new whitepaper investigates the drivers of this anomaly.

This paper focuses on creating SDG portfolios that maximize exposure to one, two or all SDGs. The study shows that it is quite possible to create a portfolio that significantly improves the exposure to SDGs without taking on too much active risk. An optimizer can help manage that active risk.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine spooked equity investors around the world, but losses were not distributed equally across all sectors, with some industries even exhibiting positive returns. This opens up opportunities for more focused strategies such as thematic investing.

This whitepaper evaluates two thematic investment strategies – STOXX® Global Ageing Population (“Ageing Population”) and STOXX® Global Millennials (“Millennials”) – which seek exposure to these two distinct generations.

In this paper we analyzed four tech-oriented thematic indices’ performance and risk through a factor lens leveraging Axioma’s Worldwide Fundamental Factor Model, and also compared their characteristics to the broad market indices.

The STOXX® USA 500 ESG Broad Market, ESG Target, and ESG Target TE indices aim to provide alternatives for index investors and product issuers who are looking to switch to more sustainable versions of traditional benchmarks.

In this paper we attempt to answer the following questions: in which region can you make the most impact, and how much active risk is required to achieve your climate goals?

While sustainable investing is not a new concept, its growing popularity means a sharper focus is needed on how to achieve sustainability goals without sacrificing returns or taking on too much unintended risk.

In this paper, we have narrowed our focus and analyzed the performance of the DAX® 50 ESG Index over the period from March 20, 2020 (the end date of our analysis last time and which was around the beginning of the recovery from the market distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic) until November 13, 2020. Our findings show that the DAX® 50 ESG Index has outperformed during this period, with the sustainability criteria applied as part of the index methodology contributing favorably to returns.

In this paper, we evaluate the EURO STOXX 50® ESG Index’s liquidity and tradability characteristics compared to its benchmark, and make an estimation of execution cost of switching from the benchmark to the index. We believe this analysis would be of interest to market participants given the recent launch of derivatives on the EURO STOXX 50® ESG Index, and to those with exposure to the EURO STOXX 50® that may be seeking a more sustainable flagship alternative.

The STOXX® Europe 600 Paris-Aligned Benchmark Index was launched in June 2020. In backtested data since March 2018, we find that the strategy has offered a higher return and lower volatility versus its benchmark. This paper drills down into some of the factors driving those results.