International derivatives market CME Group announced today that it will launch E-mini S&P 500 Equal Weight futures on February 26, pending regulatory review.
While the S&P 500 Index weights companies by market capitalization, the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index applies equal weight to all index components. The addition of these new E-mini contracts will give market participants another tool to develop hedging and investment strategies in a wide range of possible market scenarios.
“The introduction of E-mini S&P 500 Equal Weight futures will offer market participants a new way to access equity market breadth,” said Paul Woolman, CME Group’s Global Head of Equity Products. “As the S&P 500 becomes more concentrated in larger companies, these new contracts can provide a liquid, cost-effective tool to gain equal exposure to all names in the index, further allowing investors to diversify their stock trading strategies.”
“For generations, the S&P 500 has been widely regarded as the best single measure of the US stock market. To complement S&P DJI’s flagship market benchmark, the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index was launched in January 2003, measuring the performance of equal allocations among the components of the S&P 500,” said Bruce Schachne, Chief Commercial Officer of S&P Dow Jones Indices. “S&P DJI is excited to partner with CME Group as it expands its offering and further strengthens the critical role that independent and transparent benchmarks play in the capital markets.”