Wilshire Indexes, a leading global benchmark platform, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the original measure of the total US equity market, the Wilshire 5000, now known as the FT Wilshire 5000.
To mark the golden anniversary, Wilshire Indexes has published a new index research piece, Avoid the Size Trap, which examines the declining number of US listings and its impact on asset allocation, and released a new US equity market research series, How We Got Here: 50 Years of US Equity Markets & American Prosperity.
The anniversary celebration will conclude at the FT Live Future of Asset Management North America Conference on September 25th where Wilshire Indexes CEO, Mark Makepeace will join the Financial Times for a fireside discussion on the evolution of investor needs amid changing US market dynamics.
Mark Makepeace, CEO of Wilshire Indexes, said: “When the Wilshire 5000 was launched there were few ways to understand the financial strength and performance of the entire US stock market. Quickly redefining how global investors’ view and measure the market, the Wilshire 5000 helped tell the story of American capitalism through 50 years of market cycles, economic regimes, and political administrations and ultimately helped to transform the active and passive investment landscape. Today, we are proud to mark this important milestone and are even more excited for the next 50 years of the FT Wilshire 5000.”
John Ridding, CEO of The Financial Times Group, said: “Fifty years is an impressive milestone. In the pursuit of our shared goal to provide investors and readers with tools that help capture changing market and investment dynamics, the redesigned FT Wilshire 5000 will continue to find success as the most comprehensive measure of the US stock market.”
Tsuyoshi Hasebe, President& CEO of Nikkei Inc, said: “We are very pleased to celebrate this impressive anniversary with Wilshire Indexes. With a strong heritage of industry leadership, the FT Wilshire 5000 is a clear and successful example of the commitment the Wilshire Indexes team has to reshaping the index industry.”
Launched in 1974, the Wilshire 5000 Index is the oldest broad-based US index, covering the whole US investable market. However, US market structure has undergone significant change over the last five decades due to the combination of a secular shrinkage in the number of investable stocks, the increase in stock concentration, and the steep rise in stock prices, especially since the turn of the century. These new dynamics have made it increasingly difficult for legacy equity indexes using a ‘rigid stock count’ methodology to capture exposures – especially in the small cap arena.
As a result, global investors need a benchmark that reflects the evolution of the US market -- a world-class index that meets all the standards required by institutional investors but constructed to address the shortcomings of the legacy products. Leveraging Wilshire Indexes heritage of innovation and in association with the Financial Times, one of the world's leading news organisations, the Wilshire 5000 was rebuilt as the FT Wilshire 5000 in 2021 to address these new market dynamics and meet the needs of all investors. Using a percentage-based approach with market segment exposures that expand and contract the number of stocks dynamically, the FT Wilshire 5000 index series provides global investors with a modern view of the US market’s characteristics, enabling them to target US market exposures more accurately.
For additional information on the FT Wilshire 5000, index and market research please visit: https://ww1.wilshireindexes.com/ftwilshire5000
Ends
For more information, please contact: Rhonda Taylor | rhonda.taylor@ft.com
About Wilshire Indexes
Wilshire Indexes is a global benchmark platform that provides institutional investors, asset managers and retail intermediaries unmatched flexibility in solving benchmarking, portfolio construction, and risk management challenges. Transforming the way investors use benchmarks to meet their objectives, Wilshire Indexes provides global coverage of the markets through the leading FT Wilshire Index Series. Combining new technology and modular products in a growth-aligned commercial model designed for collaboration, efficiency, and speed to market, Wilshire Indexes offers a completely new way to work with an index provider. For more information: www.Wilshireindexes.com
About Nikkei
Nikkei Inc. is a world-renowned media brand for Asian news, respected for quality journalism and for being a trusted provider of business news and information. Founded as a market news provider in Japan in 1876, Nikkei has grown into one of the world’s largest media corporations, with 37 foreign editorial bureaus and approximately 1,500 journalists worldwide. Nikkei acquired the UK-based Financial Times in 2015. Our combined digital and print circulation totals about 2.3 million, and we are continually deploying new technologies to increase our readership.
About the Financial Times
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of 1.4 million, more than one million of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.