NEW YORK, May 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Dow Jones Indices ("S&P DJI"), one of the world's leading providers of financial market indices, announced today that is has licensed seven spot indices to AccuShares Investment Management, LLC ("AccuShares") for the launch of exchange traded funds based upon the indices.

The indices licensed to AccuShares include:

• CBOE Volatility Index^® (the VIX Index)
• S&P GSCI^®
• S&P GSCI Crude Oil
• S&P GSCI Brent Crude Oil
• S&P GSCI Natural Gas
• S&P GSCI Industrial Metals
• S&P GSCI Agriculture and Livestock

"Interest in volatility and volatility related strategies continues to grow amongst investors, as does interest in the CBOE Volatility Index ("VIX"), the leading benchmark for this space," says Reid Steadman, Managing Director at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "We are always excited to license our indices to market innovators, such as AccuShares, which continuously look for new and novel approaches to index-based investing."

"AccuShares is excited to launch the first exchange traded fund linked to the spot value of the CBOE Volatility Index," says Jack Fonss, Co-Founder and CEO of AccuShares Investment Management. "We look forward to working with S&P Dow Jones Indices on other exciting opportunities which utilize the AccuShares technology."

The widely tracked S&P GSCI^® is recognized as a leading measure of general price movements and inflation in the world economy. The index – representing market beta – is world-production weighted. It is designed to be investable by including the most liquid commodity futures, and provides diversification with low correlations to other asset classes.

The CBOE Volatility Index, otherwise known as the VIX Index, is the leading measure of the stock market's expectation of volatility, as implied by S&P 500 options. S&P Dow Jones Indices calculates various benchmarks tracking the performance of the futures contracts that settle to the VIX Index, as well as other indices that employ the VIX Index methodology.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange^® (CBOE^®) grants S&P Dow Jones Indices the exclusive rights -- and shares revenues with S&P Dow Jones Indices -- to license third parties to use CBOE's indexes, proprietary index methodologies, related marks and data, such as in connection with structured products based on the VIX Index.

About S&P Dow Jones Indices

S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a part of McGraw Hill Financial, is the world's largest, global resource for index-based concepts, data and research. Home to iconic financial market indicators, such as the S&P 500^® and the Dow Jones Industrial Average^®, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC has over 115 years of experience constructing innovative and transparent solutions that fulfill the needs of investors. More assets are invested in products based upon our indices than any other provider in the world. With over 1,000,000 indices covering a wide range of asset classes across the globe, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC defines the way investors measure and trade the markets. To learn more about our company, please visit www.spdji.com.

S&P^® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P"), a part of McGraw Hill Financial. Dow Jones^® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC ("Dow Jones"). These trademarks have been licensed to S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P and their respective affiliates (collectively "S&P Dow Jones Indices") do not sponsor, endorse, sell, or promote any investment fund or other investment vehicle that is offered by third parties and that seeks to provide an investment return based on the performance of any index. This document does not constitute an offer of services in jurisdictions where S&P Dow Jones Indices does not have the necessary licenses. S&P Dow Jones Indices receives compensation in connection with licensing its indices to third parties.

CBOE^®, Chicago Board Options Exchange^®, CBOE Volatility Index^® and VIX^® are registered trademarks of Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (CBOE). All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE S&P Dow Jones Indices