NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, announced today it is taking further steps to advance its institutional index business by establishing a team dedicated to service the financial industry about the benefits of using the Dow Jones Wilshire family of indexes as benchmarks for portfolios and portfolio analysis. Ronnee Ades, who was named to senior director of institutional markets, will head the new team at Dow Jones Indexes.
"We have focused on developing and rolling out indexes that are ideal for institutional investors, and that are unparalleled in the market," said Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes/Ventures. "Our dedicated institutional markets team will strengthen Dow Jones Indexes' position in the institutional space and I am confident that Ms. Ades and her team will provide the necessary support to make this initiative a success for Dow Jones Indexes and our clients."
Dow Jones Indexes first emerged as a player in the institutional arena when it partnered with Wilshire Associates in 2004 to co-brand and market the Dow Jones Wilshire family of indexes. The two organizations have float adjusted the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 and have introduced a full suite of U.S. indexes based on the 5000 including mid-, small- and micro-cap indexes as well as growth and value indexes.
Complementing the Dow Jones Wilshire index family in the institutional arena are the recently introduced Dow Jones Target Date Indexes, which are maturity-date based portfolio indexes. The first indexes of their kind, Dow Jones Target Date Indexes represent a mix of stocks, bonds and cash, the proportions of which automatically adjust over time to reflect more conservative allocations as an investor's retirement or other goal date approaches.
The new organization set up to support this strategically important initiative includes seven business development executives and is supported by product development, index maintenance and research staff.
A recent hire for Dow Jones Indexes' new institutional markets team is Jay Merrill Thompson, who has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Mr. Thompson was most recently vice president and director of marketing for Opus Investment Management in Worcester, MA.
Journalists may e-mail questions regarding this press release to: PR-Indexes@dowjones.com or contact a member of the Dow Jones Indexes public relations group:
New York: Naomi Kim, +1-212-597-5718 Sybille A. Reitz, +1-212-597-5735 Frankfurt: Simona Deckers, +49-69-97142894 Nicole Wesch, +49-69-97142893
Note to Editors:
About Dow Jones Indexes
Dow Jones Indexes is part of Dow Jones & Company, which publishes the world's most vital business and financial news and information. Dow Jones Indexes is a premier global provider of investable indexes, including the Dow Jones Averages and the Dow Jones Global, Regional, Country and Sector Titans Indexes and is co-owner of the Pan-European Dow Jones STOXX Indexes. Together with Wilshire Associates, Dow Jones Indexes markets and licenses the Dow Jones Wilshire index family, which includes the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 and its size, style, and sector indexes. Dow Jones Indexes also offers a number of specialty indexes including hedge fund, commodity and credit derivative indexes.
In addition to Dow Jones Indexes, Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ); (dowjones.com) publishes The Wall Street Journal and its international and online editions, Barron's and the Far Eastern Economic Review, Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch and the Ottaway group of community newspapers. Dow Jones is co-owner with Reuters Group of Factiva, with Hearst of SmartMoney and with NBC Universal of the CNBC television operations in Asia and Europe. Dow Jones also provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.
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