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Intercontinental Exchange, a prominent global entity in the technology and data space, and the hub for the most liquid markets in trading MSCI® futures, has made a significant announcement. It has launched the MSCI® MarketAxess Tradable Corporate Bond Index futures. These futures contracts are founded on the newly created corporate bond indices by MSCI and MarketAxess. The aim of these tradable indices is to offer a benchmark for the performance of the corporate bond market. They incorporate sector and credit allocation to ensure minimal tracking error with the MSCI parent indices and reliable replication of the credit market.

Welcome Addition to Credit Futures Suite

Antony Harden, the Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, stated that the introduction of ICE MSCI MarketAxess Corporate Bond futures is a welcome addition to the existing credit futures suite. He emphasized that the timing is perfect as client adoption has reached an all-time high, and credit futures are now finding their way into investors' toolkits.

ICE's Four Futures Contracts

ICE's four futures contracts provide institutional investors with a means to integrate corporate bond hedges into their investment processes. These contracts are based on the following indices: the MSCI MarketAxess USD IG Tradable Corporate Bond Index, the MSCI MarketAxess USD HY Tradable Corporate Bond Index, the MSCI MarketAxess EUR IG Tradable Corporate Bond Index, and the MSCI MarketAxess EUR HY Tradable Corporate Bond Index.The MSCI MarketAxess Tradable Corporate bond indices methodology employs MarketAxess' Relative Liquidity Scores. This helps in identifying and measuring the performance of a selection of liquid fixed income securities from MSCI's broader Corporate Bond Indices.

Expanding Relationship in the Corporate Bond Futures Market

Caterina Caramaschi, the Vice President of Financial Derivatives at ICE, expressed delight in expanding the relationship to the corporate bond futures market. She mentioned that the launch reflects the growing investor demand for products that enable better management of corporate bond portfolios. She also thanked MSCI and MarketAxess for their collaboration.

Providing Innovative Tools for Investors

George Harrington, the Managing Director at MSCI, was excited to be working with ICE and MarketAxess to offer investors innovative tools designed to manage credit exposures more efficiently. By leveraging MSCI's index methodologies, MarketAxess' unique liquidity metrics, and ICE's leading trading platform, clients can achieve enhanced liquidity through efficient trading.Kat Sweeney, the Global Head of Data and ETF Solutions at MarketAxess, emphasized that credit futures are an important tool for a healthy market and institutional clients. It generates more liquidity in the cash markets. She was proud to have introduced these tradable indices with MSCI and is equally excited about expanding the data and trading relationship with ICE through the launch of these futures.ICE's MSCI MarketAxess Tradable Corporate Bond Index Futures have joined ICE's existing suite of liquid futures based on MSCI ACWI, MSCI EAFE, MSCI Emerging Markets, MSCI ESG, and MSCI Climate indices. This provides participants around the world with a set of tools to manage equity risk. So far in 2024, the average daily volume for ICE's MSCI complex is over 190,000 contracts, equivalent to an estimated $13.6 billion of notional value. Approximately 45 million ICE MSCI futures contracts have traded year-to-date.