The FINANCIAL -- NYSE Liffe U.S., the innovative U.S. futures exchange of NYSE
Euronext celebrates the one-year anniversary as the sole
U.S. futures exchange trading contracts based on MSCI indices by
announcing key performance and customer adoption metrics.
According to NYSE Euronext, these metrics demonstrate that mini MSCI futures on NYSE Liffe U.S. have experienced significant growth in volume and open interest over the past year, particularly in the contracts based on the benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets and MSCI EAFE indices. They also reflect growing interest in global investing, especially in emerging markets, and improved liquidity in the contracts.
“A year after completing the migration of futures on MSCI Emerging Markets and MSCI EAFE indices from the CME, NYSE Liffe U.S. has built an active, growing market for futures on these key global indices,” said Cliff Weber, Head of Strategy and Product Development, NYSE Liffe U.S. “By introducing innovations like BIC (Block at Index Close) trading to further help our customers unlock the unique value of these products, we continue to hit records in volume and open interest. From the outset of this partnership with MSCI, our goal was to create distinct customer value by offering liquid futures on some of the most recognized indices tracking the evolution of global markets today.”
In order to participate in the increasing globalization of economies and the integration of financial markets, investment portfolios have evolved to include more emerging marketplaces and global growth opportunities. The real GDP share for emerging countries has increased from 12.5% in 1969 to 31% today with revenue growth up from 14% in 2006 to 21% in 2011. With emerging markets representing approximately 50% of the global GDP growth, products like the futures on the MSCI EM index offer investors an opportunity to utilize emerging markets as an investment destination and growing source of revenues for many global corporations.
”The globalization of equity portfolio allocation continues to be a driving theme among institutional investors,” said Ricardo Manrique, Executive Director, MSCI. “The success of the mini MSCI Index futures contracts on NYSE Liffe U.S. further demonstrates the trend in global investing and the importance of quality global indices.”
Nearly 180,000 lots of mini MSCI Index futures Open Interest are currently established on NYSE Liffe U.S., representing a notional value of over $9 billion. Open interest in the mini MSCI Emerging Markets contracts and mini MSCI EAFE contracts have increased 175% to 106,353 and 100% to 65,270, respectively since the migration from the CME in June 2011. Average daily volume during the second quarter through June 8 stood at 17,597, an increase of 75% over second quarter 2011. This growth in Open Interest and volume is a clear indication of growing customer participation as a wide range of leading global asset managers and other institutional investors have embraced the MSCI-based futures suite offered by NYSE Liffe U.S.
In May 2009, NYSE Liffe U.S. signed a license agreement with MSCI to offer a broad suite of domestic and international index futures products built on a range of MSCI equity indices. These indices include style and sector exposures as well as flagship MSCI indices like the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM), MSCI EAFE and MSCI BRIC Indices. MSCI calculates over 150,000 equity indices daily as part of a diverse index portfolio including broad and efficient market coverage of U.S. and European equity markets. MSCI indices are recognized and used by leading asset managers around the world.
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