S&P Dow Jones Indices

S&P Dow Jones Indices traces its history to 1884, when Charles Dow created the first index; its two flagship indicators are the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.⁠[1][1]

In 1983, Cboe launched SPX options on the S&P 500 Index, beginning a long-running collaboration with the index owner. The later Restated License Agreement between Cboe and S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC is dated November 1, 1994, and was amended several times.⁠[1][2]

On November 4, 2011, McGraw-Hill, owner of S&P Indices, and CME Group announced a joint venture in the index business. At the time, CME Group owned 90% of the CME Group/Dow Jones joint venture that owned Dow Jones Indexes. Under the agreement, McGraw-Hill would contribute its S&P Indices business and the CME Group/Dow Jones joint venture would contribute the Dow Jones Indexes business, creating a new company with annual revenue of more than $400 million and about $6 trillion in assets benchmarked to its indices; McGraw-Hill would own 73%, CME Group 24.4% through its affiliates, and Dow Jones 2.6%.⁠[3][3][3][3][3]

As part of the joint venture, the new company entered into a new license agreement with CME Group: instead of paying a fee per trade, CME Group would pay the index owner a share of the profits of its equity index product business. The agreement extended the license to swaps and extended CME Group’s exclusive rights to E-mini and other S&P index futures (the existing agreement ran through December 31, 2017).⁠[3][3][3]

On July 2, 2012, McGraw-Hill and CME Group announced the launch of S&P Dow Jones Indices, describing it as the world’s largest provider of financial market indices. At launch the company calculated more than 830,000 indices, its benchmarks underpinned 575 ETFs worldwide with $387 billion in assets, and it served as the basis for $1.5 trillion of indexed assets globally; actual 2011 revenue was $421 million. Ownership was 73% McGraw-Hill, 24.4% CME Group through its affiliates, and 2.6% held indirectly by Dow Jones & Company.⁠[4][4][4][4]

Alexander Matturri, executive managing director of S&P Indices, became the first chief executive officer. The company had a seven-member board, with five directors designated by McGraw-Hill and two by CME Group, chaired by Lou Eccleston, president of S&P Capital IQ.⁠[4][4]

On April 27, 2016, the controlling parent of S&P Dow Jones Indices changed its name from McGraw Hill Financial, Inc. to S&P Global Inc.⁠[5]

Since November 2025, Catherine Clay has been chief executive officer of S&P Dow Jones Indices. She previously worked at Cboe Global Markets, where she had been executive vice president and global head of derivatives since October 2023, and executive vice president and global head of Cboe Data Vantage since March 2021.⁠[6][6]

In S&P Global’s segment reporting, the index business (Indices) had 2025 revenue of $1.850 billion, up 14% from $1.628 billion in 2024, including $1.206 billion in asset-linked fees, $320 million in subscription revenue and $324 million in sales usage-based royalties, with revenue from outside the United States accounting for 20%; segment operating profit was $1.271 billion (2024: $1.103 billion). Growth came mainly from higher assets under management in ETFs and mutual funds, higher exchange-traded derivative revenue and higher data subscription revenue; ending assets in ETFs benchmarked to its indices rose 25% to $5.480 trillion.⁠[6][6][6][6][6]

In the second quarter of 2026, the index business had revenue of $534 million, up 20% year over year; first-half revenue was $1.053 billion, up 18%, again driven mainly by higher assets in ETFs and mutual funds and by exchange-traded derivative and data subscription revenue. As of June 30, 2026, ending assets in ETFs benchmarked to its indices were $6.350 trillion, up 34% year over year.⁠[7][7][7]

On September 28, 2026, Cboe Exchange, a subsidiary of Cboe Global Markets, and S&P Opco, part of S&P DJI, entered into a master license agreement and related orders that extend, expand and replace the 1994 Restated License Agreement, effective through December 31, 2051. Under the agreement, Cboe continues to have exclusive use of the S&P 500 Index and related marks to create, list, trade and clear standardized option contracts on its U.S. markets, and the two parties cross-license the calculation and dissemination of volatility indices, BuyWrite indices and related measures. Updated license fees, calculated per contract, take effect on January 1, 2027.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2][2]

On September 29, the two parties jointly announced a 25-year extension of their exclusive licensing agreement through 2051: Cboe will continue to hold exclusive trading rights to SPX options, and the parties may also collaborate on innovation beyond traditional index derivatives, including new products such as tokenized options contracts. This is only a possible area of collaboration; the parties did not announce any specific product or timetable. In 2025, SPX options traded 970.6 million contracts, an average of 3.9 million a day, up 25% from the prior year.⁠[1][1][1][1]

Cboe chief executive officer Craig Donohue said the extension allows Cboe to further grow its SPX and VIX franchises and leaves room for the next wave of innovation. S&P DJI chief executive officer Catherine Clay said investor demand for exposure to U.S. equities continues to accelerate and that the company wants investors everywhere to be able to access the benchmark in the format that best suits them. Cboe separately stated the same day that its 2026 royalty fee terms are unchanged, that the updated terms begin in 2027, and that it estimates the 2027 fee reset will have a de minimis impact on its net revenue growth that year.⁠[1][1][1][8][8]

S&P Dow Jones Indices is one of S&P Global’s five reportable segments (the Indices segment), a global index provider serving investment advisors, wealth managers and institutional investors. Its revenue comes from four sources: asset-linked fees on investment products such as ETFs and mutual funds based on its indices; royalties based on trading volumes of derivatives contracts listed on exchanges; index licensing fees for over-the-counter derivatives and retail structured products; and data and customized index subscription fees supporting index fund management, portfolio analytics and research.⁠[6][6][6][6][6][6]

As of the end of 2025 and June 30, 2026, minority partners held a combined 27% interest in S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. Under the company’s operating agreement, after December 31, 2017, CME Group and CME Group Index Services LLC may at any time sell at least 20% of their interest to S&P Global, which is obligated to buy; in the event of a change of control of S&P Global, they may also put their entire minority interest to it at fair value within 15 days. As of December 31, 2025, S&P Global recorded $4.9 billion for this redeemable noncontrolling interest.⁠[6][7][6][6][6]

S&P Dow Jones Indices: Official website: https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]