Blog posts

On February 24, Qontigo and Responsible Investor hosted a webinar to discuss the state of play in Europe’s ESG fund labeling landscape. A panel of experts analyzed the aims of the labels, their intersection with broader European regulation, and what it all means for the ultimate goal of achieving a more sustainable economy.

Arun Singhal, joined The Podfolio podcast to discuss index investing, and the emergence of smart beta strategies that blur the line between active and passive approaches.

As the outlook for Technology stocks appears uncertain, we look at the risk-management benefits for Korean investors of adding a little DAX exposure to a KOSPI portfolio.

Changes were announced as part of the March regular review for the DAX 50 ESG, DAX ESG Target and DAX indices.

For the past 20 years, a multi-factor strategy as targeted by the STOXX Europe 600 Industry Neutral Ax Multi-Factor Index has fared extremely well, and much of that consistent performance can be traced to the benefit of diversifying across different sources of return premia.

There is growing interest in the social pillar of ESG, especially on gender balance – a criterion often overlooked by responsible investors. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we talked to Equileap’s Diana van Maasdijk about how gender equality is being integrated into portfolios, and why progress on this front is so slow.

The iSTOXX MUTB Japan Low Carbon Risk 30 Index tracks those Japanese companies with the best profile in terms of carbon emissions and carbon risk management, and additionally screens for quality characteristics including high profitability. The index, which expands STOXX’s collaboration with Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB), will underlie an ETN to be listed by Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd. (MUMSS) in Tokyo.

The STOXX Global 1800 index fell 2.6% in dollars last month, with only basic-resources and energy companies posting a positive return among 20 sectors. Climate indices struggle to match benchmark returns, while factor, dividend and minimum-variance strategies outperform.

European and emerging-markets shares took the biggest hit following the start of military action against Ukraine, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index paring its outperformance to the STOXX USA 900 Index for the year. Energy and mining stocks have fared the best this year as concerns about supply disruptions have lifted the price of commodities.

The iSTOXX® USA Ocean Care 40 Index follows on the success of the EURO iSTOXX® Ocean Care 40 Index and tracks companies whose operations and programs are helping stem the degradation of the world’s water bodies, marine ecosystems and the environment.

The futures’ price and trading volume have jumped this year. If the French presidential elections this April were to trigger market volatility as did the vote five years ago, activity in VSTOXX futures could pick up further in coming weeks.

The STOXX Global 1800 index fell 5.5% in dollars and 4.1% in euros last month, the worst January since 2016, as investors assessed the potential impact of interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. US, Momentum and Quality shares led losses, while dividend and Value stocks appeared as relative winners.