NEW YORK, March 20, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, and Wilshire Associates, a global leader in investment technology, investment consulting and investment management, announced today that the Texas-based El Paso Firemen & Policemen's Pension Fund has adopted the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Index(sm) as a supplemental benchmark for its domestic equity investment portfolio. The Fund also is relying on proprietary Dow Jones Wilshire Index Data to monitor the investment strategies being executed by its portfolio managers. The announcement comes after a successful trial period.
Robert Stanton, executive director of the El Paso Firemen and Policemen's Pension Fund, said, "We are pleased to announce that we are supplementing our current benchmarks with the Dow Jones Wilshire family of domestic equity indexes, and the related Dow Jones Wilshire Index Data reports. As investment benchmarks, the Dow Jones Wilshire Indexes are clear, concise and comprehensive -- providing our Trustees an effective tool to help us monitor our domestic portfolios. We are also using the reports available from Dow Jones Wilshire Index Data for internal portfolio studies, which allow our Trustees to more easily understand each manager's investment process as compared to these benchmarks."
Michael A. Petronella, president of Dow Jones Indexes/Reprints, "The El Paso Trustees' decision to formally adopt our benchmarks and actively use our data confirms the value of the Dow Jones Wilshire Indexes as effective tools for the investor. We look forward to working with more Funds in the future, supporting their efforts to oversee a significant portion of their asset allocation."
"Plan sponsors need effective ways to continually monitor their investments," commented Dennis A. Tito, chairman and chief executive officer of Wilshire Associates who developed the then-named Wilshire 5000 in 1974. "For portfolios that reflect the entire U.S. equities market, there is no better benchmark than the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000."
The El Paso Firemen and Policemen's Pension Fund is comprised of over $730 million in assets, including 5 domestic equity funds.
The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 is the primary domestic component of the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Total Market Index and a cornerstone of the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Index Family.
About the Dow Jones Wilshire Index Family
The development of the global family of indexes in 2006 marks a new phase of the Dow Jones-Wilshire relationship. The affiliation began in 2004 when Dow Jones and Wilshire co-branded and marketed the Dow Jones Wilshire family of indexes. By extending the Dow Jones Wilshire methodology used in the U.S. internationally, the global indexes provide unprecedented breadth, consistent global coverage, and objective and transparent rules.
Dow Jones Wilshire indexes are available on market-data vendor platforms -- many in real-time format -- and on the Dow Jones Indexes (www.djindexes.com) and Wilshire Associates (www.wilshire.com) Web sites. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000(sm) Composite Index, the only true broad market index, is calculated and distributed by Dow Jones Indexes pursuant to an agreement between Dow Jones & Company and Wilshire Associates Incorporated. The Dow Jones Wilshire Global Total Market Index, the broadest measure of global equities, was launched in October 2006.
Journalists may email questions regarding this press release to PRIndexes@dowjones.com
To contact Wilshire Associates public relations, please email kim.shepherd@wilshire.com or call: Chicago: Kim Shepherd, +1-312-762-5504.
About Dow Jones Indexes
A full-service index provider, Dow Jones Indexes develops, maintains and licenses indexes for use as benchmarks and as the basis of investment products. Best known for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones Indexes also is co-owner of the Dow Jones STOXX indexes, the world's leading pan-European indexes, and together with Wilshire Associates, provides the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Index family, which is anchored by the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 and covers more than 12,000 securities in 59 markets. Beyond equity indexes, Dow Jones Indexes maintains a number of alternative indexes, including measures of the hedge fund and commodity markets. Dow Jones indexes are maintained according to clear, unbiased and systematic methodologies that are fully integrated within index families. www.djindexes.com
Dow Jones Indexes is part of Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ) (dowjones.com), which is a leading provider of global business news and information services. Its Consumer Media Group publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Its Enterprise Media Group includes Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Dow Jones Licensing Services, Dow Jones Indexes and Dow Jones Financial Information Services. Its Local Media Group operates community-based information franchises. Dow Jones provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.
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About Wilshire Associates
Wilshire Associates is a leading global investment technology, investment consulting and investment management firm with four business units: Wilshire Analytics, Wilshire Funds Management, Wilshire Consulting, and Wilshire Private Markets. The firm was founded in 1972, revolutionizing the industry by pioneering the application of investment analytics and research to investment management for the institutional marketplace. Wilshire also is credited with helping to develop the field of quantitative investment analysis that uses mathematical tools to analyze market risks. All other business units evolved from Wilshire's strong analytics foundation.
Wilshire developed the index now known as the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index(sm), the first asset/liability models for pension funds, the first U.S. equity style metrics work and many other "firsts" as the firm grew to nearly 350 employees serving the investment needs of institutional and high net worth clients around the world.
Based in Santa Monica, CA, Wilshire provides services to clients in more than 20 countries representing in excess of 600 organizations with assets totaling more than $12.5 trillion. With nine offices on four continents, Wilshire Associates and its affiliates are dedicated to providing clients with the highest quality counsel, products and services. Please visit www.wilshire.com for more information.