Index Definitions
This is provided for informational and educational purposes only. This list is not intended to be all-inclusive, if you have any questions, please contact Mariner or consult with your advisor.
The information provided herein is believed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee accuracy, timeliness, or completeness. It is provided “as is” without any express or implied warranties. Indexes are unmanaged and an individual cannot invest directly in an index.
Alerian MLP Index: The index is a float-adjusted, capitalization-weighted index, whose constituents represent approximately 85% of total float-adjusted market capitalization. This index provides a comprehensive benchmark for investors to track the performance of the energy MLP sector. The majority of MLPs currently operate in the energy infrastructure industry, owning assets such as pipelines that transport crude oil, natural gas and other refined petroleum products.
Bloomberg 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index: Includes all publicly issued zero-coupon US Treasury Bills that have a remaining maturity of less than 3 months and more than 1 month, are rated investment grade, and have $250 million or more of outstanding face value. In addition, the securities must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed rate and non convertible.
Bloomberg Commodity Index: This index is calculated on an excess return basis and reflects the price movements of commodity futures. It rebalances annually, weighted by two-thirds by trading volume and one-third by world production, and weight caps are applied at the commodity, sector and group levels for diversification. The roll period typically occurs from the sixth to 10th business day based on the roll schedule.
Bloomberg Global High Yield Index: Is a multi-currency flagship measure of the global high yield debt market. The index represents the union of the US High Yield, the Pan-European High Yield, and Emerging Markets (EM) Hard Currency High Yield Indices. The high yield and emerging markets sub-components are mutually exclusive. Until January 1, 2011, the index also included CMBS high yield securities.
Bloomberg Municipal Index: consists of a broad selection of investment-grade general obligation and revenue bonds of maturities ranging from one year to 30 years. It is an unmanaged index representative of the tax-exempt bond market.
Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index: This index (the “Agg”) represents securities that are SEC registered, taxable and U.S. dollar denominated. It covers the U.S. investment grade, fixed-rate bond market, with components for government and corporate securities, mortgage pass-through securities and asset-backed securities. These major sectors are subdivided into more specific indices that are calculated and reported on a regular basis.
Bloomberg US Dollar Floating Rate Note (FRN) Index: Provides a measure of the U.S. dollar denominated floating rate note market.
Bloomberg US Corporate Investment Grade Index: Is an unmanaged index consisting of publicly issued US Corporate and specified foreign debentures and secured notes that are rated investment grade (Baa3/BBB or higher) by at least two ratings agencies, have at least one year to final maturity and have at least $250 million par amount outstanding. To qualify, bonds must be SEC-registered.
Bloomberg US High Yield Index: Covers the universe of fixed rate, non-investment grade debt. Eurobonds and debt issues from countries designated as emerging markets (sovereign rating of Baa1/BBB+/BBB+ and below using the middle of Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch) are excluded, but Canadian and global bonds (SEC registered) of issuers in non-EMG countries are included.
Bloomberg US Mortgage Backed Securities Index: Is an unmanaged index that measures the performance of investment grade fixed-rate mortgage backed pass-through securities of GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC.
Bloomberg US TIPS Index: Consists of Inflation-Protection securities issued by the U.S. Treasury.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) Index: Is a price-weighted index of 30 blue-chip industrial U.S. stocks.
Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index: The index is designed to track the performance of real estate investment trusts (REIT) and other companies that invest directly or indirectly in real estate through development, management, or ownership, including property agencies.
Employment Cost Index: Is published quarterly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and details the growth of total employee compensation.
FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed REIT Index: Is designed to measure the stock performance of companies engaged in specific real estate activities in the North American, European, and Asian real estate markets.
FTSE Nareit Equity REITs: The FTSE Nareit US Real Estate Index Series is designed to present investors with a comprehensive family of REIT performance indexes that spans the commercial real estate space across the U.S. economy The FTSE Nareit Equity REITs index contains all Equity REITs not designated as Timber REITs or Infrastructure REITs.
FTSE EPRA Nareit Global REITs: The FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global REIT Index measures the total return, stated in US dollar terms, of the size- and liquidity-screened stocks in both developed and emerging markets of the publicly traded real estate companies which qualify for REIT status under the tax law in the country of domicile.
FTSE Global Core Infrastructure: The index is comprised of shares in companies with infrastructure core activities in accordance with the index provider’s methodology.
ICE BofA International Government Index: This index tracks the performance of Australian, Canadian, French, German, Japan, Dutch, Swiss and U.K. investment grade (IG) sovereign debt publicly issued and denominated in the issuer’s domestic market and currency. Qualifying securities must have at least one year remaining to final maturity, a fixed coupon schedule and a minimum amount outstanding.
ICE BofA Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) Index: This index tracks the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate and hybrid residential mortgage pass-through securities publicly issued by U.S. Agencies in the domestic market. Thirty-year, 20-year, 15-year and interest-only, fixed-rate mortgage pools are included in the index provided they have at least one year remaining to final maturity and a minimum amount outstanding of at least $5 billion per generic coupon and $250 million per production year within each generic coupon.
ICE BofA MOVE Index: This index is a measure of U.S. interest-rate volatility that tracks the movement in U.S. Treasury yield volatility implied by current prices of one-month over-the-counter options on two-, five-, 10- and 30-year Treasuries.
ICE BofA 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury Index: An unmanaged index that tracks the performance of the direct sovereign debt of the U.S. government having a maturity of at least one year and less than three years.
ICE BofA U.S. Fixed-Rate Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) Index: This index tracks the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated, investment grade (IG), fixed-rate commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market. Qualifying securities must have an IG rating (based on an average of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch), a fixed coupon schedule, at least one year remaining to final maturity and at least one month to last expected cash flow.
ICE BofA U.S. Fixed-Rate Miscellaneous Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) Index: A subset of the ICE BofA U.S. Fixed-Rate ABS Index, including all ABS collateralized by anything other than auto loans, home equity loans, manufactured housing, credit card receivables and utility assets.
ICE BofA U.S. Government Index: This index tracks the performance of U.S. government debt such as Treasuries.
ICE BofA U.S. High Yield (HY) Index: This index tracks the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated, below-investment-grade corporate debt, currently in a coupon paying period, that is publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market. Qualifying securities must have a below-investment-grade rating (based on an average of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch foreign currency, long-term sovereign debt ratings). They must also have one year remaining to maturity and a minimum outstanding amount of $100 million.
ISM Manufacturing PMI: This index (which used to be called the ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index) is compiled by the Institute for Supply Management and tracks the economic health of the manufacturing sector. The index is based on five major indicators: new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries and employment environment. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion of the sector, a reading below 50 represents a contraction, and 50 indicates no change.
ISM New Orders Index: This index is compiled by the Institute for Supply Management and is one of the major indicators used by the ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index to gauge the economic health of the manufacturing sector.
ISM Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI): This index is compiled by the Institute of Supply Management based on surveys of more than 400 non-manufacturing (or services) firms’ purchasing and supply executives within 60 sectors across the nation. A composite diffusion index that monitors economic conditions of the nation is created based on the data from these surveys.
ISM Prices Index: This index is a subindex of the ISM Manufacturing PMI, which is compiled by the Institute for Supply Management and tracks the economic health of the manufacturing sector. The parent index is based on five major indicators: new orders, inventory levels, production, supplier deliveries and employment environment. The Prices Index is a diffusion index calculated by adding the percent of responses indicating managers paid more for inputs plus one-half of those responding that they paid the same for inputs. The resulting single index number is then seasonally adjusted.
ISM Services PMI: This index (which used to be called the ISM Non-Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index) is compiled by the Institute for Supply Management and tracks the economic health of the services (formerly nonmanufacturing) sector. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion of the sector, a reading below 50 represents a contraction, and 50 indicates no change.
MSCI ACWI Index: This indexcaptures large and mid cap representation across 23 Developed Markets (DM) and 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries*. With 2,885 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the global investable equity opportunity set.
MSCI EAFE Index: Thisequity index that captures large and mid-cap representation across 21 Developed Markets countries around the world, excluding the US and Canada. With 796 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of each country’s free float-adjusted market capitalization.
MSCI Emerging Markets Index: This indexcaptures large and mid-cap representation across 24 Emerging Markets (EM) countries. With 1,377 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of each country’s free float-adjusted market capitalization.
MSCI World ex USA: Thisindex is designed to measure the performance of large and mid cap equities in developed markets in Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific region, and Canada.
MSCI Frontier Markets: Captures large and mid-cap representation across 29 Frontier Markets (FM) countries. The index includes 114 constituents, covering about 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country.
MSCI Germany: The MSCI Germany Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid-cap segments of the German market. With 63 constituents, the index covers about 85% of the equity universe in Germany.
MSCI Japan: The MSCI Japan Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid-cap segments of the Japanese market. With 323 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in Japan.
MSCI France: The MSCI France Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid-cap segments of the French market. With 79 constituents, the index covers about 85% of the equity universe in France.
MSCI China: The MSCI China Index captures large and mid-cap representation across China H shares, B shares, Red chips, P chips and foreign listings (e.g. ADRs). With 447 constituents, the index covers about 85% of this China equity universe. Currently, the index also includes Large Cap A shares represented at 15% of their free float adjusted market capitalization.
MSCI Brazil: The MSCI Brazil Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid-cap segments of the Brazilian market. With 55 constituents, the index covers about 85% of the Brazilian equity universe.
MSCI India: The MSCI India Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid-cap segments of the Indian market. With 79 constituents, the index covers approximately 85% of the Indian equity universe.
Nasdaq Composite Index: Measures all Nasdaq domestic and international based common type stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The Nasdaq Composite includes over 2,500 companies, more than most other stock market indexes. Because it is so broad-based, the Composite is one of the most widely followed and quoted major market indexes.
Nasdaq 100 Index: Is an index made up of equity securities issued by 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. It is a modified capitalization-weighted index.
Personal Consumption Expenditures Price (PCE) Index: Reflects changes in the prices of goods and services purchased by consumers in the United States. Quarterly and annual data are included in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) release.
Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI): Is an index of the prevailing direction of economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors.
Russell 1000® Index: Measures the performance of the large-cap segment of the US equity universe. It includes approximately 1,000 largest US stocks, representing 93% of investable US equities by market capitalization.
Russell 1000® Value Index: Measures the performance of the largecap value segment of the US equity universe. It includes those Russell 1000 companies with relatively lower price-to-book ratios, lower I/B/E/S forecast medium term (2 year) growth and lower sales per share historical growth (5 years).
Russell 1000® Growth Index: Measures the performance of the largecap growth segment of the US equity universe. It includes those Russell 1000 companies with relatively higher price-to-book ratios, higher I/B/E/S forecast medium term (2 year) growth and higher sales per share historical growth (5 years).
Russell 2000® Index: Measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the US equity universe. The Russell 2000 Index is a subset of the Russell 3000® Index which is designed to represent approximately 98% of the investable US equity market. It includes approximately 2,000 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership.
Russell 2000® Value Index: Measures the performance of the smallcap value segment of the US equity universe. It includes those Russell 2000 companies with relatively lower price-to-book ratios, lower I/B/E/S forecast medium term (2 year) growth and lower sales per share historical growth (5 years).
Russell 2000® Growth Index: Measures the performance of the smallcap growth segment of the US equity universe. It includes those Russell 2000 companies with relatively higher price-to-book ratios, higher I/B/E/S forecast medium term (2 year) growth and higher sales per share historical growth (5 years).
Russell 3000® Index: Measures the performance of the largest 3,000 US companies designed to represent approximately 98% of the investable US equity market.
Russell Midcap® Index: Measures the performance of the mid-cap segment of the US equity universe. The Russell Midcap Index is a subset of the Russell 1000® Index. It includes approximately 800 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership.
Russell Midcap® Value Index:Measures the performance of the midcap value segment of the US equity universe. It includes those Russell Midcap Index companies with relatively lower price-to-book ratios, lower I/B/E/S forecast medium term (2 year) growth and lower sales per share historical growth (5 years).
Russell Midcap® Growth Index: Measures the performance of the midcap growth segment of the US equity universe. It includes those Russell Midcap Index companies with relatively higher price-to-book ratios, higher I/B/E/S forecast medium term (2 year) growth and higher sales per share historical growth (5 years).
S&P 500 Index: Isa market-value weighted index regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities. The index includes 500 leading companies and covers approximately 80% of available market capitalization.
S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats: Measures the performance of S&P 500 companies that have increased dividends every year for the last 25 consecutive years. The Index treats each constituent as a distinct investment opportunity without regard to its size by equally weighting each company.
S&P 500 Equal Weight Index: Is the equal-weight version of the widely used S&P 500 index. The index includes the same constituents as the capitalization weighted S&P 500, but each company in the S&P 500 EWI is allocated a fixed weight – or 0.2% of the index total at each quarterly rebalance.
S&P 500 Select Sector Indices: S&P 500 Select Sector Indices: All components of the S&P 500 are assigned to one of the eleven Select Sector Indices, which seek to track major economic segments and are highly liquid benchmarks. Stock classifications are based on the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS). Capping is applied to ensure diversification among companies within each index. For specific information and definitions on the S&P 500 sector indices, please visit https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/landing/investment-themes/sectors/.
S&P MidCap 400 Index: Provides investors with a benchmark for mid-sized companies. The index, which is distinct from the large-cap S&P 500, is designed to measure the performance of 400 mid-sized companies, reflecting the distinctive risk and return characteristics of this market segment.
S&P Target Risk Moderate Index: Is designed to measure the performance of moderate stock-bond allocations to fixed income while seeking to increase opportunities for higher returns through equities.
S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index: Isa market value-weighted index designed to measure the performance of the U.S. leveraged loan market based upon market weightings, spreads and interest payments.
US Dollar Index: Is a weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against the currencies of the group of major U.S. trading partners.
US Consumer Price Index (CPI): Measures the average change over time in the prices paid by consumers for a basket of goods and services. The term “SA” in “US Consumer Price Index SA” indicates that the data has been seasonally adjusted.
US Consumer Sentiment Index: Is an economic indicator that measures how optimistic consumers feel about their finances and the state of the economy.