Aaron Brown, Columnist

Investors Have Lost Sight of the Purpose of Indexes

Index providers are not in the business of arbitrating disputes about transparency in China, U.S. corporate governance or Venezuelan politics.

June 28, 2017 at 8:34 PM UTC

By Aaron Brown

Aaron Brown is a former head of financial market research at AQR Capital Management. He is also an active crypto investor, and has venture capital investments and advisory ties with crypto firms. He is the author of the soon-to-be-released "Wrong Number."

When index debates go awry
Photographer: Carl Court

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The construction of financial market indexes has never been a very hot topic, but now:

This all seems absurd. Investors are free to hold whatever securities they please, and index providers are not in the business of arbitrating disputes about transparency in China, U.S. corporate governance or Venezuelan politics. How did we get here?