FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Global Exchange Debuts First U.S.-Listed Climate Transition Index Tailored for Institutional Portfolios
Benchmark tracks companies credibly aligning with 1.5 °C pathways and green-revenue growth, giving pensions and insurers a liquid, low-tracking-error decarbonisation tool.
New York, November 21, 2025
The Global Index Exchange (GIX) today began real-time dissemination of the GIX U.S. Climate Transition Index (ticker: GIXCTI), the first U.S.-listed benchmark designed explicitly to help institutional investors deploy capital consistent with an orderly net-zero transition while maintaining broad-market exposure.
The rules-based index selects and weights large- and mid-cap U.S. equities on the basis of five forward-looking climate metrics verified by third-party data: greenhouse-gas intensity reduction targets, green-revenue share, fossil-fuel reserve exposure, management-quality scores from the Transition Pathway Initiative, and alignment with 1.5 °C emissions pathways. Constituents must publish Scope 1, 2 and material Scope 3 data and pass a “no-significant-harm” screen. The resulting basket of roughly 300 securities targets a minimum 7 percent self-decarbonisation rate per annum, in line with the EU Paris-Aligned Benchmark standards and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change Net-Zero Framework.
“Asset owners have moved beyond simple exclusion lists,” said Laura Kim, Chief Executive Officer of GIX. “They want a cost-effective, index-based solution that keeps beta close to the S&P 500 while tilting toward companies actually building the low-carbon economy. GIXCTI delivers both objectives in a transparent, rules-based package.”
Initial back-tests indicate the index would have outperformed the S&P 500 by 1.6 percentage points annualised since 2019 while reducing weighted-average carbon intensity by 53 percent, according to GIX methodology papers released today. A separate white paper published by Morgan Stanley this week shows that more than 75 percent of North American pensions and insurers now expect physical climate risks to materially affect asset prices within five years, underscoring demand for transition-aligned instruments.
“As fiduciaries, we can no longer treat climate as a satellite allocation,” said Michael Alvarez, Chief Investment Officer of the $140 billion California Municipal Pension System, an early adopter. “A liquid, low-fee index that embeds science-based decarbonisation gives us the confidence to move core allocations toward net-zero without sacrificing diversification.”
Trading volumes in exchange-traded products linked to climate benchmarks have tripled since 2022, reaching $42 billion in notional value year-to-date, GIX data show. The exchange plans to list three separately managed account sleeves and two mutual-fund share classes tracking GIXCTI in the first quarter of 2026. Licensing fees will be 25 percent below the industry average for ESG indices, GIX added.
About Global Index Exchange
GIX is an independent benchmark administrator headquartered in New York with offices in London and Singapore. The firm administers more than 4,000 equity, fixed-income and commodity indices covering $17 trillion in assets under management. GIX is recognised as a “Category 1” benchmark administrator under the EU Benchmarks Regulation and is subject to oversight by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority.
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