44 Acquisition International - Global Excellence Awards 2016 Expert Service Solactive AG is a German index provider that develops, calculates and distributes customised indices covering all asset classes. In addition, Solactive also develops and distributes complex strategies not based on traditional underlying assets (i.e. stocks or bonds) but on instruments like mutual funds, life insurance products or currency baskets. The Company offers both Solactive-branded indices and white-label index calculation services to its customers. rankfurt-based Solactive AG was founded in 2007 and today serves approximately 350 clients globally including ETF providers, asset managers and investment banks located in Europe, the US and Asia. Steffen Scheuble, CEO, explains what sets the firm apart from others offering the same products and services. “A cost-efficient pricing model, coupled with a tailored one-to-one approach of index development, and a highly adaptive indexing infrastructure constitute the core ingredients of the Solactive value proposition,” he states. “With these elements, Solactive has been reshaping the competitive environment of financial indexing, traditionally dominated by a few established players.” Recent examples of the company’s success include growth and innovation, as Steffen elaborates. “In the last years, Solactive has enjoyed exponential growth resulting in the doubling of its workforce, the launch of multiple products in various index categories, and the win of new clients. Specifically, 2016 has been characterised by: the launch of Solactive-branded benchmarks, both market- cap-weighted and equally-weighted in the equity and fixed-income spaces; the expansion of the Solactive ESG offering of both benchmarks and smart beta indices centred on themes related to decarbonisation and sustainability such as the low- carbon family of indices, or the more recent launch of the Solactive Sustainable Development Goals Index series; the enlargement of the portfolio of thematic indices around particular trendy themes, such as Health & Fitness, Long-Term Care, Obesity, Organic Products, Megatrends and Fintech.” The Solactive ETF Services Team offers specialised support for ETF/ETP providers with the goal of facilitating the trading of ETFs that are directly linked to indices calculated by Solactive. “Considering that there are around 250 ETFs constructed on our indices, having developed in-house ETF Services allows us to respond more effectively and promptly to our customers’ needs,” explains Steffen. “More specifically, the ETF Services Team provides INAV/ IOPV/IV calculations, Portfolio Composition File (PCF) creation and production of the required factsheets.” “The team has developed strong capabilities in all asset classes and complex procedure implementation for long-short, hedged, leveraged and smart beta strategies. ETP prices can be calculated in 158 hard and local currencies. IOPV is updated up to every second over the trading hours considering multiple listings and is disseminated to exchanges and to more than 300 vendors including Reuters and Bloomberg.” Steffen describes how the team felt at receiving a prestigious award for the Global Excellence in 2016. “We are very excited about this outcome. Around 250 ETFs are linked to indices calculated by Solactive, meaning that ETF providers represent a very significant segment of our customer base. Therefore, the Global Excellence Award for our ETF Services is a major achievement for Solactive, as it indicates that we are creating value for our customers, not only with our core indexing proposition but also by offering specialised ETF services. This win also demonstrates that our indexing infrastructure can be successfully adapted to facilitate and improve customers’ indexing experience.” With regards to the firm’s future, Steffen predicts big things for Solactive. “Following the success experienced in the last years, we expect Solactive to expand to new regions and target groups. As such, 2017 has started with the appointment of a new Head of Sales, Fabian Colin. This decision was taken in order to cover the increasing global demand for our services. 2017 will also see the opening of new branches globally to tackle demand from international markets. Overall, we expect to continue growing our range of indices in all fields (i.e. broad market benchmarks, smart beta concepts, ESG and thematic indices).” In terms of the wider industry, Steffen concludes by offering his thoughts on how this impacts on the work of his firm: “The indexing industry has traditionally been dominated by a few established players with whom it has been challenging to compete from a branding perspective. However, as pressure on cost for indexing services rises, we can expect asset managers and ETF providers to switch to more cost-efficient indexing solutions, especially with regards to niche investment concepts for whom there is no established brand leader. From this standpoint, there is definitely an opportunity for Solactive to extend its market grasp.” Photo: Steffen Scheuble, CEO Solactive AG Solactive ETF Services Contact: Andreas Krysl, Head of ETF Services Email:
[email protected] Web: www.solactive.com Address: Solactive AG, Guiollettstr. 54, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Phone: +49 (69) 719 160 460 Expert Service F 1702AI32