Providers may not like to admit it, but the major market index industry is fairly saturated. There are already hundreds of major market indices available and the situation is further compounded by Thomson Reuters’ September entrance into the industry. With so many players and options, providers are being forced to find ways to put themselves above the competition and search for new clients.

One of the main problems for the providers is that index construction does not differ dramatically from firm to firm. This is especially true for major market index creation because their investability is much less of an issue. All the firms claim their process is unique, but each one will mention similar themes, such as the importance of creating an objective and representative product.