The index industry is at the heart of one of the most exciting shifts in modern finance—democratizing investing, according to Kirsten Wegner, the newly appointed CEO of the Index Industry Association (IIA).
Wegner, who joined the IIA last week, told Traders Magazine that what truly attracted her to the organization was its mission: “By enabling greater access to markets and driving cost-efficiency through passive investing vehicles, the index industry is playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of investing.”
Based in Washington, D.C., Wegner is a financial industry expert, lawyer, and bipartisan consensus builder. She has more than 20 years of experience working with regulatory agencies, Congress, and leading collaborative education and advocacy initiatives with policymakers, the media, investors, and other key stakeholders.
Previously, Wegner spent eight years at the Modern Markets Initiative (MMI), with the last seven as CEO, where she led advocacy initiatives on public policy, educated key stakeholders, and built consensus on issues surrounding fintech, artificial intelligence, and market automation.
Before that, she was the Government Relations Director at the International Securities Exchange, where she established political and policy strategy for the first all-electronic options exchange. Earlier in her career, Wegner was a practicing lawyer focused on the financial services and technology industries and also spent three years in broadcast media.
Wegner believes that her leadership strength lies in consensus building. “I thrive on bringing diverse perspectives together to find common ground and create unified strategies,” she said.
“With the IIA’s constituency spanning 17 member firms across three continents, it’s a privilege to lead such a globally diverse organization,” she added.
As the new CEO, Wegner will work with the IIA’s 17 member firms and its Board of Directors to set high-level strategic direction, lead the IIA’s public policy and communications initiatives, serve as the index industry spokesperson, and represent the IIA in front of policymakers, regulators, investors, and other key industry stakeholders.
“Among my focuses is expanding educational outreach—including studies, data, and scientific analysis—to inform conversations about the positive impact of index firms on the investing ecosystem, and the net positive impact for everyday investors, in terms of cost savings, transparency, and market integrity,” she commented.
Broadening the IIA’s audience is her key priority for her first year—to reach not just asset managers, but also everyday investors saving for college, retirement, and other milestones, so they understand the positive impact of index firms in the role they provide as transparent and independent measurements on which index funds are based, she said.
The index industry has evolved rapidly in recent years, Wegner said: “I think we’re seeing a shift in some areas—like in parts of Asia and Europe—moving from a savings mindset to an investing mindset. I’m excited for the positive role the index industry may play in this trend of democratizing investing to a broader demographic.”
“As the passive investing trend continues to grow, we’ll see increased demand for related services that index providers offer—such as data solutions and custom index solutions forming the basis for benchmarks,” she added.
Building on the IIA’s achievement of a presence on three continents, she plans to deepen relationships with educators and policymakers on their issues in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
“Challenges can be tackled by being open and having transparent data available for decision-makers,” she stressed.
Many of the independent index providers in the world are members of the IIA, including Bloomberg Indices, CBOE Global Indices, the Chicago Booth Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP), China Bond Pricing Co., China Securities Index Co. Ltd., FTSE Russell, Hang Seng Indexes, ISS-STOXX, JPX Market Innovation and Research (Tokyo Stock Exchange), Korea Exchange, Morningstar, MSCI, NASDAQ OMX, Parameta Solutions, Shenzhen Securities Information Co., and S&P Dow Jones Indices.
IIA members administer over three million indices for their clients, covering many asset classes, including equities, fixed income, and commodities.
Part of the IIA’s mission is to consider ways to promote best practices for index providers, which makes it a natural supporter of appropriate and proportionate industry standards.
“I’m excited for the IIA to convene a broad group of stakeholders to explore policy questions, promote thoughtful discussion, and build consensus in the coming year. The financial ecosystem is interconnected, and I’m excited for the IIA to promote open and transparent conversations between stakeholders,” Wegner concluded.
