Type Private Key people Steffen Scheuble, CEO, Website www.solactive.com Founded 2007 | Industry Financial services Services stock market indexes Number of employees 63 (2016) Headquarters Frankfurt | |
Solactive is a German provider of financial indices based in Frankfurt. The company develops, calculates and markets cost-efficient indices over several asset classes, e.g. Equity, Fixed-Income and Commodity indices. In addition, Solactive also engages in the development and branding of complex strategies not based on traditional underlyings, such as stocks and bonds, but on instruments like funds, life insurance products or basket of currencies.
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Since inception, Solactive has enjoyed fast growth. In 2010, there were 25 ETFs linked to indices calculated by Solactive. As of December 2015, the number rose to more than 200 ETFs. By March 2016, the company ranked third in the US in terms of ETFs tied to indices calculated by Solactive.
Solactive has adopted a forward-looking approach to index development seeking to capitalise on market movements and trends to constantly bring new index ideas to the market. Solactive has put in place an efficient indexing infrastructure guaranteeing fast and flexible services to its clients.
Managed by Steffen Scheuble, CEO, and Christian Grabbe, COO, Solactive is organized in two business units Research and Indexing, headed respectively by Henning Kahre and Astrid Ludwig.
Products
Solactive offers two approaches to index development. On the one hand, the company offers white-label index calculation services. There, Solactive calculates indices that are then marketed and distributed by the customer under its own brand name. Examples include indices such as BNP Paribas Global Agribusiness Total Return Index or the J.P. Morgan ERP Dividend Yield Long Index. On the other hand, Solactive also creates Solactive branded indices, such as the recently launched Solactive UK Domestic Index or the Solactive Founder-Run Index. In addition, since January 2016, Solactive is also active in licensing broad benchmark indices in the equity and bond space, such as the Solactive US Broad Market Index.
Solactive offers a broad range of customised indices ranging from traditional capitalisation-weighted indices, including equity and fixed-income benchmarks, to thematic strategies and smart beta indices. Traditional indices usually refer to broad-market benchmarks, which are typically weighted according to market value, as opposed to smart beta strategies. As such, Solactive is very active in offering its clients a wide number of alternative weighting schemes for its indices, commonly known as smart beta, that are based on various criteria such as equal weighting, fundamental weighting, volatility features, dividend yield weighting, among others.
Indices are rules-based and offer investors exposure to macroeconomic, political, social or industry trends. For instance, within the ESG investing trend, fuelled by global efforts to reduce climate change, Solactive has launched the Solactive SPG Euro IG Low Carbon Bond Index. Similarly, to capitalise on popular business concepts as explanatory variables for superior company performance, Solactive released the Solactive BrandFinance® European Brand Leaders Index Family, a pair of indices taking into account brand value relative to enterprise value, and the Solactive Global Family Owned Companies Index, an index considering the potential upside of family ownership.
Solactive has worked with over 300 international clients on index products. Clients are financial institutions, such as ETF providers and investment banks. Examples: