Index provider Stoxx has introduced a fixed income equivalent of its flagship equity index. The newly launched Euro Stoxx 50 Corporate Bond Index tracks the corporate debt of the constituents of Euro Stoxx 50, an index of the 50 largest blue-chip companies in the Eurozone.

Matteo Andreetto, chief executive officer, Stoxx.

The index is highly liquid and has been designed to act as an underlying for exchange-traded funds and derivatives.

“We now translate the success factors of our flagship index to the bonds market, by creating the Euro Stoxx 50 Corporate Bond Index which enables market participants to measure the performance of bonds issued by companies of the Euro Stoxx 50. This link allows a consistent analysis of the bond and equity market in the Eurozone,” said Matteo Andreetto, chief executive officer, Stoxx. “With this launch, Stoxx is for the first time offering a bond index, and the Euro Stoxx 50 is going multi-asset.”

The universe for the index is defined as bonds issued by Euro Stoxx 50 member companies, their respective corporate group and subsidiaries of both. All eligible corporate bonds must have a remaining time to maturity of at least 15 months measured from the respective re-balancing date to the maturity date and must have a minimum nominal amount outstanding of 750 million euro. Only euro-denominated fixed and zero coupon bonds are included. A minimum consolidated bond rating of Investment Grade (BBB and higher) is required. The index is market cap-weighted; capping is applied on issuer level at 20% and industry level at 40%.

Stoxx has collaborated with Interactive Data Corporation, a leading market data provider and a division of Intercontinental Exchange, to use their continuous fixed income evaluated pricing service which provides real-time bond pricing.

The index is calculated real-time in euro price and total return versions. Historical data is available from Dec. 31, 2010. It is reviewed quarterly in March, June, September and December.

The index follows the launch last year of the S&P 500 Bond Index by S&P Dow Jones Indices. This index tracks the debt of the constituents of the S&P 500 index.

Index comparison (Euro Stoxx 50 equity index on left; bond version on right):

EURO STOXX 50 (left) and EURO STOXX 50 Corporate Bond Index (right). [Source: Stoxx]