STOXX launches Christian Europe Index

STOXX, a global index provider and creator of European equity indices,has launched the STOXX Europe Christian Index.

The new index measures the performance of companies selected from the STOXX Europe 600 Index according to the values and principles of the Christian religion.

The STOXX Europe Christian Index is designed to act as a proper benchmark for actively managed funds, and to underlie exchange-traded funds and other investable products that enable investors to participate in the performance of European companies which are compliant with Christian moral and social doctrines.

"With the launch of the STOXX Europe Christian Index, STOXX acknowledges the growing number of Christian market participants who wish to invest in accordance with their religious beliefs," said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX.

"The new index provides a broad representation of European companies who act responsibly on an ethical, environmental, social and economical level; and are therefore in-line with Christian values."

To ensure the quality of the index and the integrity of the underlying index methodology, an independent committee has been established to define, build and implement the screening criteria.

It is made up from members of Christian Brothers Investment Services, the Vatican, Missionary International Service News Agency, as well as members of the academic and investment community.

The index universe for the STOXX Europe Christian Index is defined as all stocks in the STOXX Europe 600 Index.

To be included in the index, stocks must pass a set of screens for compliance with Christian values and principles, which are conducted by the Independent Committee led by CBIS.

Excluded from the index are companies which do not meet predetermined tolerance levels for certain areas of activity, such as for example pornography, strategic and non-strategic weapons, birth control and gambling.

The STOXX Europe Christian Index is weighted by free-float adjusted market capitalization, and each component's weight is capped at 20% of the index's total free-float market capitalization.

It is reviewed semi-annually in June and December.

Daily history is available back to December 31, 2004. The STOXX Europe Christian Index is available in price and net return versions, and is calculated in Euro and US Dollar.