Webinar: Beyond market measurement - How could indices power the next generation of digital markets?
Thursday 01 October 2026 | 13:00 - 14:00 | Webinar
This event has been sponsored by S&P Dow Jones Indices.
This event has been organised by the CFA UK Technology and Innovation Community
Indices have long played a dual role in financial markets, serving as benchmarks for measuring performance and as the foundation for investment products across asset classes. As markets become more digital, automated and interconnected, what role can indices play in helping shape the future of digital assets?
The growth of tokenised assets, digital market infrastructure and automated financial applications is creating new requirements for trusted market data and benchmark governance. In this environment, indices may evolve from reference points used by investors into infrastructure that may support trading, portfolio construction, risk management and new investment products.
In collaboration with S&P Dow Jones Indices, this webinar will explore what it means to bring benchmark data into digital financial ecosystems and what challenges must be addressed for institutional adoption. The discussion will examine how governance, transparency, data quality and accountability become even more important as financial processes become increasingly automated.
What will attendees learn?
- Why investors should pay attention to the convergence of digital assets, tokenisation and benchmark infrastructure
- How indices could evolve from performance measurement tools into components of trading, portfolio management and risk workflows
- The role trusted benchmarks may play in fragmented digital markets
- How programmable financial infrastructure could create new opportunities across asset management, derivatives, collateral and investment products
- The governance, operational and risk challenges that emerge when financial applications automatically act on benchmark data
- Potential challenges and opportunities when implementing benchmark data within automated and digital investment ecosystems
Who should attend: asset owners, asset managers, ETF and product specialists, index users, market infrastructure providers, fintech leaders, risk professionals and anyone seeking to understand how digital assets and tokenisation may reshape investment markets.
This session will be particularly valuable for those interested in the future of benchmarks, investment products, market structure and digital financial infrastructure.
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Speaker
Stephanie Rowton, Senior Director, Tokenisation and U.S. Equities, S&P Dow Jones Indices
Stephanie is Senior Director, Tokenisation and U.S. Equities at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). In this role, Stephanie drives S&P DJI’s strategy for decentralised finance (DeFi) and spearheads innovative projects such as the tokenisation of S&P DJI indices, including the S&P 500®. She oversees the tokenisation go-to-market strategy, evaluates strategic investment opportunities in the digital asset ecosystem on behalf of S&P DJI and determines partnership priorities across blockchain and DeFi platforms. Her work focuses on how S&P DJI can extend its trusted index data into the evolving world of onchain finance and new asset classes.
Alongside her focus in digital innovation, Stephanie contributes to the strategic direction of S&P DJI’s U.S. equity indices. She collaborates with stakeholders across the financial ecosystem to develop and bring new indices to market. Her experience spans from mainstream benchmarks such as the S&P 500 and S&P 500 Equal Weight Index to sustainability-focused offerings including the S&P 500 Scored & Screened Index (formerly the S&P 500 ESG Index) and a variety of climate-oriented indices.
Prior to joining S&P DJI in 2021, Stephanie spent 10 years at Allianz Global Investors, where she worked as an investment strategist for a global unconstrained equity fund. She has consulted for NASDAQ on European ESG data and for the FAIRR Initiative, which helps investors exercise their influence as responsible stewards of capital.
Stephanie holds a BA (Hons) in art history from the University of Manchester and attained both her Graduate Diploma in law (GDL) and her legal practice course (LPC) at the University of Law, London.
About S&P Dow Jones Indices
At S&P Dow Jones Indices, we provide iconic and innovative index solutions backed by unparalleled expertise across the asset-class spectrum. We’re the largest global resource for index-based concepts, data and research and home to iconic financial market benchmarks such as the S&P 500® and the Dow Jones Industrial Average®. More assets are invested in products based upon our indices than any other index provider in the world. Our solutions bring transparency to global capital markets and are widely considered essential in tracking market performance, evaluating portfolios and developing investment strategies.
S&P Dow Jones Indices is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI). S&P Global enables businesses, governments and individuals with trusted data, expertise and technology to make decisions with conviction. We are Advancing Essential Intelligence through world-leading benchmarks, data and insights that customers need in order to plan confidently, act decisively and thrive in a rapidly changing global landscape. To learn more, please visit www.spglobal.com/spdji.
