FTSE Russell and CanDeal DNA Extend Landmark Partnership to Strengthen Canadian Fixed Income Benchmarks
A significant long-term alliance in Canadian financial infrastructure has been solidified. Global index powerhouse FTSE Russell and CanDeal DNA, a leading provider of over-the-counter (OTC) fixed income pricing and reference data for Canada, have announced a 10-year extension and major expansion of their partnership. This renewed agreement, effective immediately, ensures that FTSE Russell’s suite of Canadian fixed income indices will continue to be underpinned by CanDeal DNA’s high-quality pricing services for the next decade.
Beyond Pricing: Building a Next-Generation Analytics Ecosystem
The new arrangement transcends a simple renewal. It marks a strategic深化 of the collaboration, explicitly aimed at developing a “next-generation Fixed Income analytics solution.” This future platform will be fully integrated with the FTSE Canada indices and will leverage CanDeal DNA’s core technological strengths: its pricing engine, security master data, and analytics calculation libraries. The partnership will also broaden the availability of CanDeal DNA’s data through products like FTSE FastQuote+ and expand licensed offerings to include the CanDeal DNA Security Master and Trademarks products.
This move addresses a critical and growing demand within institutional markets. As global investors increasingly seek exposure to Canada’s robust fixed income sector—which includes federal, provincial, and corporate bonds—the need for transparent, consistent, and comprehensive pricing and reference data becomes paramount. The integration of pricing, security identification, and analytics into a unified framework is designed to reduce operational friction and enhance the precision of portfolio construction and risk management for index users.
Leadership Perspectives on a Shared Vision
Marina Mets, Head of Americas, Fixed Income at FTSE Russell, emphasized the strategic importance of the deepened collaboration: “With a growing need for high-quality domestic data and analytics, our deeper collaboration with CanDeal ensures the FTSE Canada index ecosystem remains underpinned by best-in-class pricing and unified reference data and analytics.” Her statement highlights the industry-wide shift toward demanding not just raw data, but interconnected, actionable insights.
Andre Craig, President of CanDeal DNA, framed the expansion as a natural evolution: “Our long-term partnership with FTSE Russell has benefited global participants in the Canadian fixed income markets and we believe the opportunity to work together to deliver our universe of data products and build a modernized portfolio analytics platform is a natural next step.” This perspective underscores the mutual commitment to innovation that serves the entire market ecosystem, from asset managers to index fund providers.
Reinforcing Market Integrity and Innovation
The expanded partnership is a clear signal of a joint commitment to strengthening the foundational elements of Canada’s fixed income market. By combining FTSE Russell’s global indexing expertise and credibility with CanDeal DNA’s specialized, domestic market data prowess, the alliance aims to deliver:
- Trusted Data: Consistent, transparent pricing and reference data as the bedrock for index calculation.
- Integrated Analytics: Seamless tools that link index performance to underlying security characteristics and valuation.
- Comprehensive Indexing: Robust benchmarks that accurately reflect the performance of Canada’s diverse debt markets.
- Sustained Innovation: A dedicated, long-term R&D focus to meet the evolving technological and analytical demands of global participants.
For investors and institutions tracking Canadian bonds, this development promises greater reliability in benchmark data and, in the future, more sophisticated tools to analyze and manage fixed income portfolios tied to these key indices. The 10-year horizon provides the stability needed for both parties to invest heavily in the integrated analytics platform, potentially setting a new standard for how fixed income index data is delivered and utilized globally.
