Index provider Stoxx has launched the Euro Stoxx 50 Dividend Points Futures Index.
The index measures the performance of a hypothetical portfolio, in which an equal amount is invested into the one to five year Eurex futures contracts listed on the Euro Stoxx 50 Dividend Points.
The futures contracts are fully collateralised by a daily investment into the Eonia market (Euro OverNight Index Average).
The Euro Stoxx 50 Dividend Points Futures Index has been licensed to Lyxor ETF to underlie an exchange-traded fund which will be available in the next couple of weeks.
"The Euro Stoxx 50 Dividend Points Futures Index is the newest addition to StoxxX’s strategy index family, and also proof of our commitment to the development of innovative index concepts," says Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, Stoxx. "The unique methodology of this new index provides market participants with a single sophisticated tool to measure the performance of a portfolio of multiple equal weighted futures contracts listed on the pure dividend points of the Euro Stoxx 50 Index. Dividends as a separate asset class are becoming directly investable for the first time through this new index."
"With the launch of the Euro Stoxx 50 Dividend Points Futures Index, Stoxx has brought a major innovation to the investment world, and is now able to provide investors with a privileged access on dividends as a true asset class. This new index constitutes an additional building block to investors seeking diversification and a reduced volatility," adds Isabelle Bourcier, global head of Lyxor ETF.
The index replicates an investment strategy in which – at a futures settlement date – an equal amount of money is invested into the one, two, three, four and five year Eurex futures contracts listed on the Euro Stoxx 50 Dividend Points. The investment in these contracts is fully collateralized by an investment of the index notional into the Eonia market. The interest earned from this collateralisation is re-invested into the futures portfolio on a daily basis.
Until the next settlement date, the index value represents the value of this portfolio of futures contracts. At the next settlement date, the shortest futures contract is settled and the portfolio is re-invested into an equal amount of one, two, three, four and five year futures contracts – the index rolls into its next stage.
