Peter Jeffreys has been appointed to head Standard & Poor’s push into the European index market. Jeffreys, managing director of global fund ratings and co-founder of investment fund analysis business Fund Research, will take on responsibility for the index and portfolio service business.
The move is aimed at establishing S&P’s indices as “the performance benchmark of choice for European investors”. The current focus on benchmarking will force investors to migrate rapidly from national to regional and sectoral frameworks, highlighting the demand for real-time and investible indexes,” the firm says.
Jeffreys says his role will involve the introduction of new index products in Europe. “In the past, S&P has been in partnership with FTSE International for its international indices, but last year we went our separate ways.” S&P launched its Global 1200 index series last year and more recently the Global 100. “There will be more indices in the fullness of time,” he says.
He says S&P is in discussions with its securities exchange partners, including Deutsche Börse, for futures contracts to be launched around those indices. Exchange-traded funds will follow. “We are also in partnership with TOPIX, and we’ve made a parallel appointment in Tokyo,” says Jeffreys. David Collins will head up Far Eastern index services from the Japanese capital.