OREANDA-NEWS. Euronext and Morningstar today signed a strategic collaboration to launch product creation opportunities and risk management tools, based on Morningstar Indices. This offering, which includes new European indices for blue chips, will give investors access to relevant benchmarks and related market data at lower cost.

The products to be developed by Euronext aim to provide different investor profiles (asset managers, brokers and banks) with equity beta indices that can be used as benchmarks and for investable product creation. The new Morningstar indices are positioned as competitive alternatives to existing products, and will form part of the Morningstar Global Index Family, meeting industry demand for disruptive business model solutions via low cost licences. Later in the year Euronext will launch options and futures contracts on the two new European indices.

Sanjay Arya, Global Head of Morningstar Indexes, said: “Morningstar’s mission is to create great products that help investors reach their financial goals. Our indexes practice is an extension of that mission. Our collaboration with Euronext is designed to help investors gain accessible, consistent exposure to European markets with tools to manage risk in their portfolios.”

Stéphane Boujnah, CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board, Euronext N.V said: “This agreement with Morningstar is part of our ‘Agility for Growth’ strategy aimed at diversifying and strengthening our index offering in Europe. The Euronext Group is well positioned to meet rising demand for these products from clients at a time when the European market is actively seeking new business models. Working closely with our clients lets us deliver innovative solutions to the industry as a whole.”