Notes from the Editor
John A. Prestbo
Editor and Executive Director Dow Jones Indexes
U.S. President Warren G. Harding won election (and coined a new term) in 1920 with a promise of a "return to normalcy." American voters, tired of war and disillusioned with the outside world, lapped it up.
I will not go so far as to say that the markets have returned to "normalcy" so soon after 2008's meltdown (if you can even call 2001-2008 "normal"). But players from money managers and individual investors to industry executives and government regulators the world over seem to be back at the table, hoping that maybe—just maybe—the worst is behind us.
In this issue of Insights, we went global, "visiting" London (for two stories), Dubai and Santiago to speak with people who are planning for the long term. They agree that the global markets hold enormous promise and that now is the time for positioning, not posturing. They are re-evaluating and preparing for the future.
First, we had a conversation with some new friends: Manuel González Zavala of Mexican index firm Proveedor Integral de Precios (PiP) and Gregorio González Nicolini of the Chilean indexer LVA. Dow Jones teamed up with their two firms to create a new series of Latin American fixed-income indexes called Dow Jones LATixx IndexesSM.
Next, we talked to Brendan Bradley of Eurex, the futures and options exchange. We discussed how Eurex's market makers use Dow Jones Titans IndexesSM.
We also spoke with ETF Securities' Nicholas Brooks. He told us how ETF Securities is using Dow Jones-UBS Commodity IndexesSM to create innovative products for his clients.
Bernadette O'Sullivan is Director of Client Services here at Dow Jones Indexes. She tells us about a re-thinking and revitalization of our Dow Jones Global IndexesSM family. The index series recently expanded to add five new countries.
Finally, we are happy to introduce our new Director of Islamic Indexes: Gulf-based Tariq Al-Rifai. This market veteran has charted his own course almost since his first day out of B-school, traveling the world, working for companies big and small in Shari'ahcompliant investing.
Let's hope we are seeing a return to healthier market conditions. The alternative was no fun at all.