Get Indexology® Blog updates via email.


CONTRIBUTOR
Contributor Image
maria_sanchez

Maria Sanchez

Director, Sustainability Index Product Management, U.S. Equity Indices, S&P Dow Jones Indices

María Sánchez is Director, Sustainability Index Product Management, U.S. Equity Indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). In her role, she assists in the strategy for developing sustainability indices built on U.S. equity benchmarks, including the iconic S&P 500®.
Full Bio
Sep 8, 2025

The S&P 500 Christian Values Screened Index: A New Benchmark to Serve Faith-Based Needs

S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) launched the S&P 500® Christian Values Screened Index in September 2025. This milestone reflects S&P DJI’s philosophy as an independent index provider: offering choices to market participants while maintaining the objectivity and governance required by institutional investors. Values-based investment can be traced back to 18th-century Christians in the U.S….

READ

Feb 12, 2025

What’s in a Name? From S&P 500 ESG Index to S&P 500 Scored & Screened Index

Over the last 10 years, sustainable investing has become increasingly prevalent, and concerns surrounding the risk of greenwashing have increased. To assist S&P DJI’s customers with new European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) fund naming guidelines, S&P DJI announced the renaming of the S&P 500® ESG Index to the S&P 500 Scored & Screened Index….

READ

Nov 12, 2024

A Measure of Success – The Evolution of ESG Scores in the S&P 500 ESG Index

When considering the success of an index, many often think in terms of performance metrics. However, the true measure of an index’s success lies in how well it meets its objectives. The S&P 500® ESG Index focuses on selecting and ranking index constituents using ESG scores compared to the underlying S&P 500.  The index achieves…

READ

Sep 11, 2024

Maintaining Low Tracking Error: The Construction of the S&P 500 ESG Index

When it comes to integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment strategies, market participants may be interested in deviations from the benchmark. Tracking error is a widely used metric that helps measure the size of these deviations. Improving the ESG profile of a composition often means accepting a higher tracking error due to…

READ

Apr 27, 2022

What Is New in S&P ESG Indices?

In a recent public consultation, evolving investor sentiment and the changing needs of the ESG landscape were reflected through S&P DJI stakeholders’ feedback on the S&P ESG Indices. The results were published April 1, 2022.1 So, what are the changes? Quarterly eligibility checks instead of annual to incorporate the latest available information on a more…

READ

Nov 16, 2021

Let’s Talk about Survivorship – SPIVA Latin America Scorecard

The saying goes, “What does not kill you makes you stronger,” but could that strength translate into a greater chance of survival? Perhaps, especially if all future risks were equal or sufficiently similar to the one that was survived—assuming, of course, that one learned from that first experience. The survival of mutual funds could follow…

READ

Apr 14, 2021

SPIVA Latin America Year-End 2020 Scorecard: Active Managers Missed an Opportunity

The recently published SPIVA® Latin America Year-End 2020 Scorecard shows that the volatile environment of 2020, though potentially favorable for high-conviction active managers, did not necessarily translate into success for active managers. SPIVA scorecards measure the performance of active funds against an appropriate benchmark. For Latin America, S&P Dow Jones Indices began publishing the scorecard…

READ

Nov 18, 2020

SPIVA® Latin America Mid-Year 2020 Scorecard: Convergence to Underperformance

We recently published our industry-famous SPIVA report for the Latin America region. SPIVA, which stands for S&P Indices Versus Active, analyzes the performance of actively managed mutual funds against their respective category benchmark. In the case of Latin America, S&P Dow Jones Indices began publishing the scorecard in 2014, covering Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. The…

READ

Jul 22, 2020

Active Managers’ Outperformance in Brazilian Bond Funds – Skill or Price Distortion?

There were impressive results for active managers in the Brazil Corporate Bond Funds category, with 93.6% of them beating the benchmark in March 2020 and 88.2% Q1 2020. However, were these performance results due to true skill? This outperformance may be related to a market distortion. On the one hand, Brazil’s corporate bond funds experienced…

READ

Jul 15, 2020

Did Latin American Active Managers Outperform in This Tumultuous Time?

Low volatility and dispersion make it harder for active managers to add value. In other words, high volatility and high dispersion environments are expected to favor active managers to demonstrate their skill. In this aspect, March 2020 offered an opportunity to active managers[1] across the world, including in Latin American equity markets. High dispersion and…

READ


Get Indexology® Blog updates via email.

Indexology® Blog
Contributors

SEE ALL