NYSE Euronext, a leading exchange operator and index provider, has celebrated the 10th anniversary of the popular Intellidex Indices.
Debuting in 2003, the Intellidex Indices were among the first smart beta indices to be adopted by the ETF industry.
The indices, which debuted in April 2003, were designed to objectively identify those stocks within a particular market segment that have the greatest potential for capital appreciation.
Following their immediate licensing to Invesco PowerShares, to serve as the basis for a range of ‘Dynamic Portfolios’ exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the indices were among the first ‘smart beta’ benchmarks to be adopted by the ETF industry.
Smart beta essentially refers to an indexing approach that weights constituents based on a range of fundamental or technical criteria, as opposed to market capitalisation, which is typical of most mainstream benchmarks.
Commenting on the milestone, Nick Aninos, Vice President, NYSE Euronext Global Index Group, said: “The Intellidex series of indices is an alternative investment strategy that investors and traders can use to generate alpha in their portfolios through a consistent, rules-based approach.”
He added: “Leveraging our operational and listed product expertise, we look forward to continuing to respond to our customers needs with innovative products and services.”
The Intellidex family was originally launched with two indices based on approximately 25 factors. With the recent upgrades in June 2011, the family has grown to 40 indices today based on models specific to style, sector and industry, and incorporate an aggregate of 47 different factors.
The underlying methodology evaluates companies quarterly, based on a variety of factors grouped into five broad categories: price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action, and value.
PowerShares currently offers 26 ETFs linked to Intellidex indices, covering various industries, sectors and style segments.
The most successful fund in the range, in terms of assets under management, is the PowerShares Dynamic Large Cap Value Portfolio ETF (PWV) linked to the Dynamic Large Cap Value Intellidex Index. Since inception on the NYSE Arca in March 2005, the fund has gathered $591 million of assets.