Solactive and ProShares launch index focused on in-store U.S. retail

By Sarah Lizee

Olympia, Wash., Nov. 16 – Solactive AG and ProShares have entered an exclusive licensing agreement for a new index that will benchmark the performance of traditional U.S. retail companies, according to a Thursday press release.

The Solactive-ProShares Bricks and Mortar Retail Store Index is the first comprehensive, public index composed of leading brands in the U.S. retail sector that rely principally on in-store sales.

The index offers a broad measure of the health of this sector of the U.S. economy as it contends with the disruptive rise of e-commerce, an over-abundance of store space and other challenges, the release said.

“The rise of e-commerce, and Amazon in particular, is fundamentally reshaping the U.S. retail sector,” Michael Sapir, co-founder and chief executive officer of ProShare Advisors, LLC, said in the release.

“Shoppers are moving out of the aisles and onto the internet. Investors, corporate decision-makers and others need tools to understand the impact of this consequential shift in our economy. This new index gives them a daily snapshot of the health of retailers that derive a very high percentage of their sales from in-store transactions.”

The index is composed of U.S. retailers across a broad range of categories and market segments, including Barnes & Noble, Gap, Office Depot, Sears, Macy’s, Nordstrom, AutoZone, Costco, Dollar General, Best Buy, JCPenney, Home Depot, Tiffany and Target.

The criteria for inclusion in the index is based on publicly traded U.S. companies with a market capitalization of more than $500 million, with at least 50% of their revenues from retail operations and 75% or more of retail revenues from in-store sales.

The index is rebalanced monthly and reconstituted annually.

“We are excited to launch the Solactive-ProShares Bricks and Mortar Retail Store Index, licensed by one of the most innovative ETF companies in the world,” Timo Pfeiffer, head of research at Solactive, added.

“This new index will help investors track and understand the shifts happening in traditional U.S. retail.”

Solactive is a Frankfurt-based index developer. ProShares is an investment adviser based in Bethesda, Md.

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