New commodities indices from Dow Jones and AIG Financial Products

Two of these are sub-indices of the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index (DJ-AIGCI). Two of the indices are Euro and Yen denominated versions of the existing DJ-AIGCI, and the third is a spot price version of the DJ-AIGCI.

The five new indices and sub-indices join the two indices and seven sub-indices already calculated daily by Dow Jones and AIG Financial Products Corp. The expansion of the index family responds to the rapid growth of interest in commodities as an asset class.

Michael A. Petronella, president of Dow Jones Indexes/Ventures, said: “This expansion of the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index complex will enhance the ability of investors to track specific exposures within this significant asset class. We have responded quickly to investor demand for additional currencies and a wider range of segment subsets.”

The five new indices and sub-indices are: the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index Euro, the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index Yen, the Dow Jones-AIG ExEnergy Sub-Index, the Dow Jones-AIG Agriculture Sub-Index and the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Spot Index. Also available are total return versions of each of the new indexes and sub-indexes with the exception of the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Spot Index. 

Dow Jones Indexes, in conjunction with AIG Financial Products Corp., is launching the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Euro and Yen Indexes in response to increased demand in Europe and Japan for non-US Dollar denominated commodity indexes.

The Dow Jones-AIG ExEnergy Sub-Index will allow investors to track a diversified basket of commodity futures without exposure to energy futures prices, and currently consists of the following 15 commodity futures: Aluminum, Coffee, Copper, Corn, Cotton, Gold, Lean Hogs, Live Cattle, Nickel, Silver, Soybeans, Soybean Oil, Sugar, Wheat, and Zinc.

The Dow Jones-AIG Agriculture Sub-Index consists of the following seven commodity futures: Coffee, Corn, Cotton, Soybeans, Soybean Oil, Sugar, and Wheat.

The Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Spot Index measures the price movements of the commodities included in the DJ-AIGCI. This new spot index provides a general estimate of trends in commodity prices, ignoring the effects of rolling futures contracts and the costs of actually holding physical commodities.

"The new additions to the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index collection of indices and sub-indices will be important tools in today’s expanding marketplace for commodities products. Interest in commodities is increasingly global in scope, with a focus on the diversification benefits of this asset class,” said Joseph Cassano, president and chief executive officer of AIG Financial Product Corp. “Growing numbers of investors are taking a closer look at commodities indexes because returns have historically been negatively correlated with stock and bond returns and positively correlated with inflation measures.”
 
The Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index, a diversified and highly liquid benchmark for the commodities markets, is composed of futures contracts on physical commodities and was introduced in 1998. The new DJ-AIGCI indices and sub-indices provide a means for investors to track non-US Dollar-denominated exposures to commodities and to tailor exposures to various commodity sectors. Currently, there is an estimated USD15 billion invested in financial products that are tracking the DJ-AIGCI on a global basis.