Competitive dynamics shifting across indexing, says Burton-Taylor consultancy
Revenues earned by index providers reached a record $7.2bn last year with strong gains for equity markets worldwide and rising investor demand for passive ETFs fueling growth for one of the finance industry’s most profitable sectors.
Fees tied to assets in ETFs remain a key driver of the overall revenues for index providers which rose 13.4% in aggregate last year, according to Burton-Taylor, a New York-based consultant owned by TP ICAP, the interdealer broker.
Brad Bailey, research director at Burton-Taylor International Consulting, said that periods of elevated market volatility in 2025 – driven by geopolitical tensions, shifting interest rate expectations and trade policy uncertainty – had created a more dynamic environment which also proved beneficial for index providers.
“Volatility tends to increase demand for benchmarks, derivatives, structured products and real-time data tied to indices,” said Bailey.
The S&P 500, the most widely followed US stock market benchmark, registered multiple new peaks in 2025, helping to boost revenues for S&P Dow Jones Indices to $1.85bn last year. MSCI was a close second with indexing revenues of $1.79bn in 2025, ahead of FTSE Russell in third place with indexing revenues of $1.29bn.
The top three players won more than two-thirds of the indexing industry’s revenues but multiple other competitors, including Nasdaq, ISS STOXX, Bloomberg, Morningstar and TMX VettaFi* also achieved robust earnings growth. Bank-owned index providers were not included as revenue lines are not readily available for these divisions but the Burton-Taylor report provides the most complete picture available.
“Indexing is now a two-tier market. The big three – S&P Dow Jones Indices, MSCI and FTSE Russell – will focus on capturing asset flows and trading volumes linked to established benchmarks. New product development is much more important to smaller players. If they can come up with an interesting idea and find a way to distribute it effectively, that can make a meaningful contribution to their revenue base,” said Alex Matturri, a former chief executive at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Bailey said that the competitive landscape was shifting as a result of pressures from large asset managers to cut index licensing costs and rising demand for customised indexing solutions.
More large asset managers are launching proprietary indices which they have developed in-house to reduce the costs of the licenses paid index providers.
However, this trend was not “purely negative” for established index providers as many were able to use their existing infrastructure and expertise to expand into providing index calculation and customisation services along with “white-label” solutions for clients, said Bailey.
He added that customisation was now a key focus for many index providers with investors increasingly seeking tailored benchmarks for factors, themes, ESG and outcome-oriented strategies designed for the specific needs of clients.
“Technology is a key enabler here. Advances in technology and data platforms have made it easier to design, test and distribute indices at scale, while also supporting intraday and real-time index calculation”, said Bailey.
By Chris Flood
Originally published on ETF Stream
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