S&P Dow Jones Indices

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S&P Dow Jones Indices
Founded	2012 (as joint venture); 1896/1923 origins with Dow Jones & S&P
Headquarters	New York, NY, United States; offices in London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Frankfurt, Singapore, Dubai
Key People	Catherine Clay (CEO), Martina Cheung (President and CEO of S&P Global), Dan Draper (Special Advisor, former CEO)
Employees	~600 (2025, global)
Products	equity indices, bond indices, commodity indices, ESG benchmarks, volatility indices
Twitter	@spdji
LinkedIn	Profile
Website	https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/
Releases	Company News

S&P Dow Jones Indices is a provider of global financial market indices and benchmarks, offering products that help institutional and retail investors measure, track, and allocate capital across equities, fixed income, commodities, and alternative asset classes. The company maintains and licenses iconic indices such as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), serving as the backbone for thousands of investment products including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, and structured financial products.

Founded as a joint venture between S&P Global and CME Group in 2012, S&P Dow Jones Indices continues the legacy of Charles Dow and Standard & Poor’s, shaping financial markets since the late 19th century. The company operates in major financial centers globally, supporting data transparency, investment benchmarking, and risk management for asset managers, pension funds, banks, insurance firms, and institutional investors.

History

S&P Dow Jones Indices was formed as a joint venture in 2012 by bringing together S&P Indices, Dow Jones Indexes, CME Group, and McGraw Hill Financial. The combined entity traces its roots to the creation of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896 by Charles Dow and to Standard & Poor’s ongoing evolution since its founding in the 1920s. This consolidation unified two of the financial industry’s most influential index families, supporting the advent of index-linked investing via futures, ETFs, and derivatives traded at leading exchanges like CME Group, ICE, and international venues.

CME Group's role in forming S&P Dow Jones Indices began with its acquisition of a 90 percent stake in News Corp.'s Dow Jones stock index business in 2010, valuing the entity at $675 million and securing broad licensing rights to major market benchmarks such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average. CME subsequently contributed its Dow Jones Indexes interest to the S&P Dow Jones Indices joint venture with McGraw-Hill (S&P), ensuring the continuity of the iconic index brands and integrating their distribution with the S&P family. As part of this arrangement, CME sold its stake in Credit Market Analysis (CMA), a provider of OTC credit market data, to McGraw-Hill, further consolidating the joint venture's focus on indices and benchmarking products.

In April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial was rebranded S&P Global following a shareholder vote at its Annual Shareholders Meeting.

Parallel to innovations in electronic trading, the S&P 500 emerged as the dominant barometer for U.S. and global equity markets and the basis for large-scale asset management. The company shaped regulatory practices, market structure, and investment benchmarking throughout increases in passive investing and the proliferation of index-based products, including custom data solutions, ESG ratings, and fixed-income benchmarks.

Recent history saw S&P Dow Jones Indices adapt to new compliance environments, responding to U.S. and global sanctions, regulatory actions (including SEC investigations and data handling reforms), and ongoing technological transformation. Its expansion into ESG indices, factor-based solutions, and thematic benchmarks has supported industry trends toward responsible investing and alternative asset allocation.

As of 2025, S&P Global’s brands include S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global Commodity Insights (formerly Platts), S&P Capital IQ (as a platform within Market Intelligence), S&P Dow Jones Indices, CRISIL, and recently added brands tied to mobility and sustainability.

J.D. Power is no longer part of S&P Global, having been sold to private equity in 2016.

As of 2025, more than $13 trillion is currently associated with investment products linked to S&P Dow Jones Indices, including ETFs, mutual funds, and other index-tracking vehicles.

Products & Services

S&P Dow Jones Indices delivers benchmarks for a wide spectrum of asset classes, industries, countries, and investment strategies.

Major indices include:

• S&P 500: The definitive large-cap U.S. stock index used globally for allocation and benchmarking.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA): A price-weighted benchmark for leading U.S. corporations, regarded as a barometer of blue-chip equities.
• S&P Global BMI & S&P Emerging Markets Indices: Core tools for global diversification and emerging market access.
• Sector, thematic, and factor indices: Covering ESG, value/growth, small-cap, volatility (e.g., VIX benchmarks), commodities, and custom strategy indices.

Additional services encompass:

• Data analytics platforms
• Custom index creation for asset managers, insurers, and exchanges
• Index-linked licensing for ETFs, mutual funds, and structured products
• Daily pricing, index insights, research commentary, and historical data services
• Integration with partners and exchanges (e.g. CME Group, ICE, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing) for index-based derivatives and benchmarking products

S&P DJI is also prominent in driving ESG benchmarks and sustainability indices, reflecting demand from pension funds and institutional asset managers for responsible investing standards.

Cboe and S&P Dow Jones Indices have an exclusive licensing agreement by which Cboe has the exclusive right to offer trading in S&P's flagship S&P 500 Index (SPX) options. In September 2026 the agreement was renewed through 2051. According to Cboe, SPX options are one of the world's most liquid and actively traded index options.

Key People

Executive Management

• 

  Catherine Clay, Chief Executive Officer (from November 1, 2025)

• 

  Dan Draper, Special Advisor (former CEO)

• 

  Joe DePaolo, Chief Legal Officer

• 

  Cameron Drinkwater, Chief Product Officer

• 

  Gina Gavini, Chief Operating Officer

• 

  Dennis Lee, Managing Director, Global Head of Index Governance

• 

  Sunjiv Mainie, Managing Director, Chief Design Officer

• 

  Suvankar Mazumder, Chief Technology Officer

• 

  Sike McGuinness, Global Head of Communications

• 

  Robert Ross, Chief Commercial Officer

• 

  H. Owen Ruhnke, Chief Financial Officer

• 

  Christina Tsang, Chief of Staff

• 

  Victoria Vallejo, Global Head of People

Risk Management

S&P Dow Jones Indices employs comprehensive governance and risk controls to maintain its benchmarks, ensure regulatory compliance, and manage conflicts inherent in selecting and rebalancing assets for its indices. Specialized committees govern index construction, constituent selection (such as those for the S&P 500 and DJIA), and event disclosures, aiming for transparency and adherence to published methodologies.

Risk is monitored through oversight of index calculation, data integrity, cyber security, and proactive responses to market disruption—ranging from technological failures to regulatory changes or geopolitical events impacting index member companies. Volatility indices, such as those linked to VIX, provide risk signals for asset managers and liquidity providers worldwide.

Controversies

Over its history, S&P Dow Jones Indices has faced criticism for index composition discretion, transparency concerns (particularly relating to the S&P 500 selection process), and regulatory scrutiny over data licensing, methodology, and index-linked fund labeling. In 2021, the SEC fined the company in relation to temporary data provision pauses. Critics have highlighted the limited regulatory oversight over index providers given the scale and influence of S&P DJI’s indices, arguing for reforms in index governance and asset manager disclosure.

The company’s indices have also been implicated in broader market debates concerning passive investing, concentration risk, and the potential impact of index methodology on competition and capital allocation. Nonetheless, S&P Dow Jones Indices has responded to many of these concerns by updating governance, refreshing constituent policies, and improving disclosure around index events, rebalancing schedules, and methodology changes.