On July 27, Dow Jones Indexes launched its Asia Pacific Extra Liquid Series (AP/ELS), which currently includes indexes based on Australia, Hong Kong and Japan.

Dow Jones AP/ELS is a set of equity indexes designed for retail and institutional investors seeking index-linked investments in the Asia Pacific region. The indexes are constructed using the largest, most liquid stocks in each country's market. They were designed with the assistance of the Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE).

Financial Times Stock Exchange International entered the post-euro European benchmark melee on June 14 with the launch of its FTSE EStars index.

Recent months have seen the launches of a plethora of new funds, as well as the announcements of an equally large number of impending launches.

With so many new stock indexes making their debuts, bond indexes might seem lost in the shuffle. But the field has not been neglected. Europe is taking the lead in offering new debt-related securities indexes in the wake of the Euro; new bond indexes covering Australia and the U.S real estate market have also been introduced.

Deutsche Borse

Deutsche Borse has announced a new series of pan-European and euro-zone bond indexes for both institutional and individual investors.

John C. Bogle, Vanguard Group's founder and senior chairman, may be asked to retire from the giant fund group's board, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Index providers Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. and Standard & Poor's have gotten together to introduce a new "classification standard" for grouping industries for stock research and for use in stock-index investments.

Dow Jones launched a 50-stock benchmark index of the world's largest multinational companies on June 1. The first of its kind, the Dow Jones Global Titans Index is a response to the growing importance placed by professional investors on giant multinationals.

The Dow Jones Islamic Market Index was joined by two new sub-indexes on May 14. The Dow Jones Islamic U.S. Index consists of roughly 230 U.S.-based companies that are included in the DJIMI. The Dow Jones Islamic Global Technology Index includes about 70 technology-oriented companies from the larger index.