FTSE Russell Index Ideas

In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Jack Fischer, US fixed income, currency and commodity product lead at FTSE Russell, talks about the recent revival of investor interest in inflation-linked bonds and explains how FTSE Russell is catering to this demand via a range of inflation-linked indices. Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction(00:00:41) - Why inflation-linked bonds are seeing renewed interest(00:02:12) - How big is the inflation-linked market?(00:03:07) - Categorisation and investment demand(00:04:52) - Differences between SILSI, WILSI and EMILSI(00:06:40) - Inflation-linked bond market performance(00:09:05) - Finding out more about inflation-linked securities

In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Hannah Layman, head of sustainable index research and design at FTSE Russell, describes how she uses FTSE Russell’s “weight explainer” tool to help clients understand and communicate the drivers of different weight positions, especially in indices for sustainable investment. Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction(00:00:47) - Why we need a "weight explainer" tool(00:01:52) - The drawbacks of optimisation(00:03:00) - Explaining weights with a tilt-based methodology(00:04:10) - Using the weight explainer in a sustainable index(00:05:18) - Does the number of tilts you apply matter?(00:07:16) - The impact of correlation(00:08:44) - Feedback from clients and use cases

In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Wanming Du, director of index policy in the Asia-Pacific region for FTSE Russell, explains why we are reclassifying Vietnam from a frontier market to an emerging market and what this means for the country’s inclusion in flagship FTSE Russell equity benchmarks. Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction(00:01:45) - The role of FTSE Russell's policy team(00:03:45) - Vietnam's classification change(00:05:33) - Reasons for reclassification(00:06:35) - Working with regulators(00:07:15) - Importance of market infrastructure(00:08:27) - Free float in Asian emerging markets(00:10:16) - External advisory committees(00:11:19) - Other markets

In this episode of Index Ideas, Arne Noack, Head of Equity and Multi-Asset Indices, Americas, at FTSE Russell, describes our approach to building global equity benchmarks—from country selection to regional and size classifications and current demands from clients for more customised exposures. Chapters (00:00:00) - Intro & Season 2 Kickoff(00:00:42) - Guest Welcome: Arne Noack(00:00:52) - How to Measure the Global Equity Market(00:01:40) - Who Uses the FTSE All‑World & How(00:02:47) - Developed vs Emerging: How the Split Shifts(00:03:52) - Size Bands & Regional Methodology(00:05:47) - Index Names Across Providers & Country Classification Differences(00:08:13) - Eligibility: From Rulebooks to Quality of Markets Matrix(00:10:18) - How Membership Changes: Rebalances & Watchlists(00:11:31) - Reclassification Examples: Korea & Vietnam(00:12:25) - Advisory Committees & Governance(00:13:56) - Ex‑US & Regional Variants + Close

In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Ali Zaidi, Head of Real Assets & Alternatives at FTSE Russell and Tyler Johnson, Chief Technology Officer for StepStone Group, talk about the objectives, design and use cases of the new FTSE StepStone Global Private Market Indices.

In this episode of Index Ideas, Stephanie Maier, Global Head of Sustainable at FTSE Russell, discusses the results of FTSE Russell’s 8th Annual Sustainable Investment Asset Owner Survey, released in December 2025. She describes investors’ rising concerns about climate risk and argues that sustainable investment is very much alive and well.

In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Andreas Schroeder, head of index design (EMEA) at FTSE Russell talks about the objectives and requirements of an EU Paris-aligned equity index. He explains how FTSE Russell’s researchers choose between different index designs when meeting those requirements.

In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Lee Clements, Director of Applied Sustainable Investment Research at FTSE Russell, explains how indices can help guide those investing in the green economy. He describes FTSE Russell’s green revenues data, how it's organised and overseen and how the data feeds into our environmental equity indices.

In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Robin Marshall, director of fixed income research at FTSE Russell, talks about the 40-year legacy of the FTSE World Government Bond Index (FTSE WGBI), the global standard for the sovereign debt markets.

In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Catherine Yoshimoto, Director of Product Management at FTSE Russell, talks about the objectives, design and uses of the Russell US style indexes, the widely used benchmarks for the US equity market’s growth and value, defensive and dynamic style segments.  

In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Kristen Barrie Mierzwa, head of digital assets at FTSE Russell, talks about the unique challenges of indexing digital assets: defining the universe, sourcing reliable information on cryptocurrency tokens and applying an index framework to a market that operates 24/7/365.

Why fixed income exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continue to break records. In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Jack Fischer, US Fixed Income Product Lead at FTSE Russell, explains why assets in fixed income ETFs, both index-based and active, continue to hit new highs. He focuses on the rise in demand amongst US investors for international fixed income exposure and how FTSE Russell’s index range is meeting that demand.

Combining asset classes for long-term success. In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, quantitative researcher Alberto Allegrucci explains why the 60/40 equity/bond asset allocation model fell out of favour after Covid. He discusses FTSE Russell’s quantitative model for a long-term balanced macro asset allocation.

In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Emerald Yau, Head of Equity Index Product Management for FTSE Russell in Asia, talks about an important measure of equity resilience—free cash flow—and how her team has recently designed a set of indices to embed this measure.

Why is concentration risk a concern? In this episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Sebastian Lancetti, Head of Index Research & Design, Americas joins us to discuss perhaps the hottest topic in investment. What has happened historically after periods of extreme equity market concentration? What are the different ways to diversify an equity index? And what is FTSE Russell's new target diversification approach?

Why do we call the Russell 1000 and 2000 'better' benchmarks? In the first episode of FTSE Russell Index Ideas, Catherine Yoshimoto, Director of Product Management at FTSE Russell explains how the Russell Reconstitution process works, the significance of Russell Recon Day for the overall US equity market and how the calendar is changing next year. As a reminder, FTSE Russell does not offer investment advice. You can’t invest in an index directly – it’s a hypothetical portfolio of stocks, bonds or other assets. If you’d like to use any of the index ideas we discuss in an investment strategy, you will need to reach out to your product provider or investment adviser.