Customised indices once only existed as a below-the-radar service provided by investment banks to larger clients with unique or unusual return profiles and liabilities. But their use today across the spectrum of the asset management industry and its clients is commonplace.

In essence, a custom index is one that has been created or refined when the standard index series is too narrow or too broad. It can be used for: investment and market analysis; measuring and benchmarking; asset allocation; and the creation of index-tracking funds and index-based structured products.