Stoxx, a leading index provider, has reached its 15th anniversary. Part of the Deutsche Börse and SIX, the Zurich-headquartered firm launched its first own-branded indices on 26 February, 1998, in advance of the introduction of the euro single currency the following year.

Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, Stoxx.

In the ensuing 15 years, Stoxx has developed from being the leading euro-focused index provider to becoming a global firm known for a range of innovative strategy indices.

Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, Stoxx, said: “Stoxx has always been a company of visionary innovation, from the launch of the Euro Stroxx 50 Index in 1998 to the global expansion of our index family and re-branding in 2011.”

He added: “Today, we are still as dedicated as we were 15 years ago to developing neutral, strictly rules-based and transparent indices that meet the high standards our clients know and expect from us.”

The company’s indices are among the most popular underlyings for European equity index-based investment products such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs), futures & options, structured products and passively managed investment funds.

In April 2000, the Euro Stoxx 50, which was the first index to measure the performance of eurozone companies, and the Stoxx Europe 50, which measures 50 of the largest companies across Europe, were used as the benchmark indices for the first equity ETFs that were ever launched in Europe.

Today, the Stoxx Global Index Family covers 65 countries and over 9,000 companies. As of 31 January, 2013, there were 285 ETFs listed on Stoxx, DAX and SMI indices globally (Stoxx is also the marketing agent for DAX and SMI indices).

The company is firmly established in the top-tier of index providers that also includes S&P Dow Jones, MSCI, FTSE, Nasdaq OMX Global Indexes, NYSE Indices, Barclays, Markit, Russell Indexes and MTS Indices.