🔵 Catherine Clay and the New Equation of Power

Under the Cards of S&P Global: when the index becomes the core of the game

On November 1, 2025, Catherine Clay will take the helm of S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Behind this announcement lies a major strategic shift: transforming the indices business into an autonomous, “pure-play” entity — clearer, more profitable, and less entangled within a conglomerate often criticized for spreading itself thin across ratings, data, and indices.

Why this choice?

Clay brings a distinctive DNA: a former Cboe executive, she masters derivatives and listed product creation. In other words, she knows how to turn an index into a profit engine — through ETFs, options strategies, and custom indices.

What’s at stake:

Monetizing differently: moving beyond passive AUM fees toward “options strategy” suites, private market indices (infrastructure, private credit), and bespoke offerings for institutional investors. Internal balance: finding the right equilibrium between the P&L autonomy of the Indices division and synergies with other S&P Global businesses (Ratings, Market Intelligence). Competitive window: FTSE Russell, MSCI, and BlackRock are already accelerating in private markets. S&P cannot afford to stay on the sidelines.

Visible risks:

Margin erosion if the fee war continues. Internal frictions over data ownership and methodologies. Growing regulatory pressure (BMR, SEC).

Immediate opportunities:

Launching derivatives-based strategy indices (covered call, put-write) to capture market appetite. Offering “custom indices as a service” to insurers and pension funds. Entering the private-assets field with a first generation of transparent, credible indices.

HUMINT Reading.

This is not just a CEO change. It’s a strategic unveiling: S&P is setting the stage to prove that its Indices franchise performs better liberated than embedded. In this repositioning, value lies as much in methodology as in influence — discreet alliances, data partnerships, and innovation cadence. Clay’s success will depend on her ability to impose a strong narrative within the first 180 days and to show that an index is not a static product but a strategic instrument in motion.

Conclusion.

When a giant like S&P Global redraws its lines of force, the message to the markets is clear: indices are no longer a passive back-office function, but a strategic lever of power and value.

Behind every index now lies a battle of influence, margins, and narrative.

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