ETF Provider SSgA To License Full Dow Jones Wilshire Style Index Family

NEW YORK – Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, and Wilshire Associates Incorporated, one of the world’s leading investment consulting, investment management and investment technology firms, today announced that five Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Size and Style indexes will serve as the basis of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) being launched by State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), a Boston-based leader in institutional investing. SSgA also switched the underlying indexes of four existing ETFs to the Dow Jones Wilshire Style Indexes from the Dow Jones U.S. Style Indexes, meaning that SSgA is offering ETFs on the full set of Dow Jones Wilshire Size and Style Indexes.

The new ETFs, which began trading today on the American Stock Exchange—combined with the four that switched indexes—capture the top 2,500 U.S. stocks in the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000sm Composite Index, according to size and style.

The underlying-size indexes for the new ETFs are the Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Large-Cap Index, Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Mid-Cap Index and the Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Small-Cap Index. Additionally, the new Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Mid-Cap Growth and Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Mid-Cap Value ETFs will complement the transitioned Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Large-Cap Growth, Dow Jones Wilshire U.S.Large-Cap Value, Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Small-Cap Growth and Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Small-Cap Value ETFs.

“The Dow Jones Wilshire Index family is the broadest measure of the U.S. stock market,” said Michael A. Petronella, president, Dow Jones Indexes/Ventures. “State Street Global Advisor’s decision to issue ETFs based on the full suite of Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Style Indexes ensures that best practices and methodology for measuring these categories are being utilized.”

The four existing-style ETFs—previously based on the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth Index, Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Value Index, Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index and Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index— switched late last month to the Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Large-Cap Growth Index, Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Large-Cap Value Index, Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index and Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Small-Cap Value Index.

“The introduction of five new style-based ETF products derived from the Dow Jones Wilshire Index family enhances SSgA’s ETF offerings and brings customers a full range of investment tools to meet their financial goals,” said Jim Ross, co-head of SSgA’s Advisor Strategies unit. “By adopting the remaining Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Style Indexes for our existing style-based street TRACKS ETFs, we have ensured that our customers can access every segment of the U.S. equity market across a complete portfolio of investment styles.”

The Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Indexes family comprises the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index, Dow Jones Wilshire RESI Index, Dow Jones Wilshire REIT Index, Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Industry Indexes and Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Style Indexes.

Dow Jones Wilshire Indexes are available on market-data vendor platforms—many in real-time format—and on the Dow Jones Indexes (www.djindexes.com) and Wilshire Associates (www.wilshire.com) Web sites. Style history is available to Dec. 31, 1998. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index is calculated and distributed by Dow Jones Indexes under an agreement between Dow Jones & Company and Wilshire Associates Incorporated.