NEW YORK, Nov. 6, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ ) today announced the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System has adopted the NASDAQ Global Index Family to serve as preferred benchmarks for its equity investments.
This decision requires the pension's twenty investment managers to reconsider their current benchmarks with preference to NASDAQ Global Indexes.
The pension was attracted to NASDAQ OMX's rules-based, transparent index methodology and fee structure that utilizes a flat fee for the full scope of index data, unlike the more complex, restrictive pricing models of competitor index providers.
"NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes are significantly less expensive and provide nearly exactly the same market exposure as other benchmarks we have used," said Gerald Garrett, Chairman of Investment Committee of the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System. "It is our responsibility to help our investment managers identify cost-savings opportunities and accomplish our investment goals and our decision to utilize NASDAQ OMX's Global Indexes helps us achieve those objectives."
The NASDAQ Global Index Family, covering large, mid- and small-cap equities across developed and emerging markets, was developed to compete directly with leading industry incumbent index providers.
"The Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System's endorsement of our indexes reflects a growing trend of pension plans and asset managers reviewing alternatives to their current benchmarks," said John Jacobs, Executive Vice President, NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes. "The pension appreciates the advantages we offer such as high quality index construction, a cost-efficient pricing structure, scalable technology and a large distribution network. This is yet another indication we are disrupting the status quo in the modern global indexing industry."
The NASDAQ Global Index Family represents more than 98% of the global equity investable marketplace and is comprised of over 25,000 indexes. The family consists of global securities broken down by market segment, region, country, size and sector. The NASDAQ Global Index Family covers 9,000 securities with a combined float-adjusted market capitalization of over $37 trillion. Like all NASDAQ OMX indexes, the NASDAQ Global Index Family is based on a transparent, rules-based index methodology. Over ten years of historical back-tested data is available for the entire global family. For more information about the NASDAQ OMX Global Index Family, visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/
About NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes
NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes has been creating innovative, market-leading, transparent indexes since 1971. Today, our index offering spans geographies and asset classes and includes diverse families such as the Dividend Achievers, Global, Nordic, Green Economy, Sharia and Commodity Indexes. We continuously offer new opportunities for financial product sponsors across a wide-spectrum of investable products and for asset managers to measure risk and performance. NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes also provides custom index services and design solutions to selected financial organizations. For more information about NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes, visit indexes.nasdaqomx.com .
Daily index values, weightings and historical data for NASDAQ OMX indexes are available via NASDAQ OMX Global Index Watch and NASDAQ OMX Global Index Data Service .
About NASDAQ OMX Group
The inventor of the electronic exchange, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., fuels economies and provides transformative technologies for the entire lifecycle of a trade - from risk management to trade to surveillance to clearing. In the U.S. and Europe, we own and operate 26 markets including 3 clearinghouses and 5 central securities depositories supporting equities, options, fixed income, derivatives, commodities, futures and structured products. Able to process more than 1 million messages per second at sub-55 microsecond average speeds with 99.99% uptime, our technology drives more than 70 marketplaces in 50 developed and emerging countries into the future, powering 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions. Our award-winning data products and worldwide indexes are the benchmarks in the financial industry. Home to approximately 3,300 listed companies worth $7 trillion in market cap whose innovations shape our world, we give the ideas of tomorrow access to capital today. Welcome to where the world takes a big leap forward, daily. Welcome to the NASDAQ OMX Century. To learn more, visit www.nasdaqomx.com . Follow us on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/NASDAQ ) and Twitter ( http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx ). (Symbol: NDAQ and member of S&P 500).
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the NASDAQ OMX Global Index Family and NASDAQ OMX's other products and offerings. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ OMX's control. These factors include, but are not limited to factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.
The information contained above is provided for informational and educational purposes only, and nothing contained herein should be construed as investment advice, either on behalf of a particular financial product or an overall investment strategy. NASDAQ OMX makes no recommendation to buy or sell any financial product nor any representation about the financial condition of any company or fund. Statements regarding NASDAQ's proprietary indexes are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investors should undertake their own due diligence and carefully evaluate companies before investing. ADVICE FROM A SECURITIES PROFESSIONAL IS STRONGLY ADVISED.
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