Trend towards sustainable investing strengthening derivatives inflows – ESG products hit new trading record in Q1 2021
Release date: 19 Apr 2021
With 562,714 contracts traded, Eurex's ESG products broke a new record in the first quarter of 2021 and continues to be collective success story.
By supporting the global shift towards responsible investing, Eurex has established itself as the leading exchange for local, regional, European and global ESG derivatives. It offers a suite of futures and options for investors looking to gain exposure to indexes that incorporate ESG methodologies such as negative screening or ESG integration.
Zubin Ramdarshan, Head of Equity & Index Product Design at Eurex: “As our latest figures show, Eurex maintains a pioneering position in ESG derivatives. With our strong pipeline of new innovative products, we are ready to grow further, and provide our clients with the solutions demanded.”
In February 2019, Eurex was the first exchange worldwide to introduce futures on European ESG benchmarks: the STOXX ESG-X, Low Carbon and Climate indexes. Options on these indexes were added in October 2019.
In 2020, Eurex took its ESG offering from a European to a global level. The exchange introduced futures on the STOXX® USA 500 ESG-X Index, as well as new futures on MSCI ESG Screened Indexes covering World, USA, EM, EAFE and Japan. Eurex thus leveraged its first-mover advantage and became the global leader in an essential new segment, with the largest offering and open interest.
In November 2020, Eurex extended its offering to futures and options on ESG versions of the DAX and EURO STOXX 50® indexes which integrate ESG scores into their index methodology. Integration is a more challenging methodology to pursue as there are different approaches used between asset managers and ESG data providers.
End of March 2021, the nominal value of outstanding positions has reached about 3 billion EUR. At Eurex, we are keen to build and leverage our strong position by offering a derivatives toolbox that supports the trend towards more sustainable investments.
