Blog posts

Investors are right to focus on the US debt ceiling showdown these days, instead of key upcoming economic releases including the May jobs report. While a US default would unleash global economic Armageddon, markets have been relatively calm so far.

The fight to preserve our nature’s systems is intensifying, presenting both additional risks and opportunities for investors. Qontigo’s ISS STOXX Biodiversity indices offer a multi-step framework to address biodiversity challenges while employing state-of-the-art datasets.

The goals of the Paris Agreement depend inexorably on the decarbonization of the transport sector and, therefore, on the widespread adoption of electric cars. Investors can join the clean transportation megatrend through targeted thematic strategies.

After two years of rallying, energy stocks have experienced a turn in fortunes in 2023 as commodity prices continue to slide. Nevertheless, the STOXX Europe 600 Oil & Gas index has retained some attributes, such as positive active exposures to the Earnings Yield and Value factors.

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.

As the luxury goods industry experiences a post-pandemic boom and its companies become some of the largest in the world, a new thematic index and ETF offer investors an opportunity to track this business segment in a targeted way that would not be possible through a traditional sector strategy. The Kodex European Luxury Top 10 ETF was listed in Korea on Apr. 25 and tracks the STOXX Europe Luxury 10 index.

The STOXX Global 1800 index rose 1.8% in dollars in April, and the STOXX World AC added 1.5%, following better-than-expected economic and business reports. There were gains across all regions, and Low Risk was the leading factor in the month.

EconSight’s sophisticated patent classification system helps determine which companies are likely to lead in future technological markets. The company’s indicators and deep know-how is employed in the stock selection process of the STOXX Global Metaverse index.

The index’s targeted focus allows investors to accurately capture one of the strongest-growing themes of late, as Gen Z and Asian consumers increase spending on luxury products.

Despite its main association with online gaming and social media, the Metaverse is also providing a virtual platform for industries to employ technologies aimed at improving efficiency, controlling supply chains and monitoring risk-management processes. The STOXX Global Metaverse Index is designed to capture the pioneers developing those applications.

Axel Lomholt, Chief Product Officer for Indices & Benchmarks at Qontigo, explains how technology and data innovation are buoying thematic investing, and what it takes to be at the research frontline in thematic strategies.

A new whitepaper from Qontigo’s research team explores the benefits of constructing an exclusions portfolio with an optimizer, which helps limit active risk and frees up capital to allocate towards sustainability or performance objectives.