LONDON – 11 January 2024 – Wilshire Indexes, a leading global benchmark platform, and Nikkei Inc., a world-renowned media brand for Asian News and calculator of the Nikkei 225, today announced that Nikkei has made a strategic investment in Wilshire Indexes to accelerate the expansion and adoption of the global benchmark platform.
Wilshire Indexes combines new technology, critical and deep index experience, and a long heritage of index innovation to help transform how investors use benchmarks to realize their objectives. Recognizing the global opportunity and long-term strategic importance of a new global benchmark platform, the investment from Nikkei aims to further the global expansion of its index business and reinforce the Nikkei brand internationally.
In 2022, Nikkei and Wilshire Indexes jointly developed the Nikkei225 Climate Change 1.5℃ Target Index, a powerful tool for ESG investment which aims to meet the minimum standards for the EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks (PAB). The partnership will strengthen the collaboration around the development of new innovative index offerings for global investors and promotion of the Nikkei brand globally.
Nikkei joins existing investors, including Singapore Exchange (SGX Group), the Financial Times(FT), Mark Makepeace, CC Capital and Motive Partners. CC Capital and Motive Partners acquired Wilshire Indexes’ parent company, Wilshire Advisors LLC, in 2021. Wilshire Indexes was advised by Solomon Partners and Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Mark Makepeace, CEO of Wilshire Indexes, said, "We are excited about the potential of this new strategic partnership with Nikkei. The combination of Wilshire Indexes heritage of index innovation, Nikkei’s leading media brand and global reach, and our respective teams of index industry pioneers will help accelerate the growth of our global benchmark platform and client service offerings.”
Tsuyoshi Hasebe, President& CEO of Nikkei Inc, said, “We are very pleased to be investing in Wilshire Indexes, led by Mr. Makepeace with his outstanding track record in index development. The Nikkei index business, which includes the Nikkei 225, is well known in Japan, and we plan to expand our presence globally.”
Doug Newton, Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director of CC Capital, said, “This partnership is a testament to the world-class technology, infrastructure and broad reach of the Wilshire Indexes platform today, as well as the opportunities ahead. Wilshire Indexes has proven its ability to outperform for their blue-chip clients. We are confident that Nikkei’s strategic investment will further position Mark and the talented Wilshire Indexes team to build on their leading strategies and innovation capabilities and continue driving value in the evolving index marketplace.”
Scott Kauffman, Founding Partner of Motive Partners, said, “We are excited with the continued success and growth of Wilshire Indexes. The combination of growing global strategic partnerships and new technology, data and analytics capabilities, will continue to drive disruption and differentiation across the index industry.”
About Wilshire Indexes
Wilshire Indexes is a global benchmark platform that provides institutional investors, asset managers and retail intermediaries unmatched flexibility in solving benchmarking, portfolio construction, and risk management challenges. Transforming the way investors use benchmarks to meet their objectives, Wilshire Indexes provides global coverage of the markets through the leading FT Wilshire Index Series. Combining new technology and modular products in a growth-aligned commercial model designed for collaboration, efficiency, and speed to market, Wilshire Indexes offers a completely new way to work with an index provider. For more information: www.Wilshireindexes.com
About Nikkei Inc.
Nikkei is a world-renowned media brand for Asian news, respected for quality journalism and for being a trusted provider of business news and information. Founded as market news provider in Japan in 1876, Nikkei has grown into one of the world’s largest media corporations, with 37 foreign editorial bureaus and approximately 1,500 journalists worldwide. Nikkei acquired the Financial Times in 2015.
About CC Capital
CC Capital Partners is a private investment firm based in New York, NY that was founded in 2015 by Chinh Chu with a focus on investing in and operating high-quality businesses for the long term. The firm evaluates investments anticipating a hold-period well beyond that of a typical private equity firm and funds its investments through a variety of permanent capital sources. CC Capital frequently partners with highly-seasoned executives, managers and owners seeking to create significant value post-acquisition by bringing to bear their formidable operating expertise. More information on CC Capital can be found at www.cc.capital
About Motive Partners
Motive Partners is a specialist private equity firm with offices in New York City, London and Berlin, focusing on venture, growth equity and buyout investments in technology-enabled financial and business services companies based in North America and Europe, and serving five primary subsectors: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Investment Management and Insurance. Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies. More information on Motive Partners can be found at www.motivepartners.com
