S&P Global (SPGI) investor relations material

The Company Behind the S&P 500

S&P Global is a provider of financial information and analysis, offering a broad range of services to various stakeholders worldwide. Central to its portfolio is a collection of ratings, benchmarks, and data-driven insights, catering to investors, businesses, and governments. Notably, the firm is responsible for the S&P 500 index, which aggregates the performance of 500 significant publicly traded companies in the U.S. The index is widely regarded as a key gauge for the U.S. stock market and offers insights into the country's economic trends. Beyond the iconic index, S&P Global provides a suite of other products and services that play an important role in the global financial ecosystem.

Standard & Poor’s

S&P Global, originally founded as the Standard Statistics Bureau, began its journey by tracking the financial performance of U.S. companies. In 1941, the company merged with Poor's Publishing, an entity that had been detailing the history of railroads and other industrials since 1888, leading to the creation of Standard & Poor's. Over the decades, it evolved into one of the world's leading financial market intelligence providers. Renowned for its stock market indices, especially the S&P 500, the company expanded its services to include credit ratings, research, and benchmarks. In 2016, to reflect its broadened services and global reach the company rebranded as S&P Global.

The S&P 500

The S&P 500 is one of the most widely followed and recognized stock market indices in the world. Established in 1957, it comprises 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the U.S., capturing approximately 80% of the country's total market capitalization. As a market-capitalization-weighted index, the largest companies have the most influence on its movement. The S&P 500 serves as a key barometer of U.S. equity performance, reflecting the health of the U.S. economy and broader market trends. Financial professionals, such as investment banks as well as retail investors use it as a benchmark.

Beyond the Index

S&P Global is far more than just the S&P 500. The company is a provider of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data. S&P Global Ratings provides credit ratings that help investors assess risks associated with debt instruments. The Global Market Intelligence division offers insights into the finance and commodities sectors. S&P Global Platts is pivotal in providing information and benchmarks for the energy and commodities markets. Meanwhile, S&P Dow Jones Indices create indices that cover a wide range of financial markets and companies. However, it’s not alone in doing so, and when looking at some publicly traded companies providing indices we find MSCI and Nasdaq.