Method and system for creating and trading derivative investment instruments based on an index of investment management companies

1. A system for creating a stock index for a group of investment management companies, the system comprising:

an investment management company index module comprising a processor and a memory, the processor configured to execute logic stored in the memory such that the investment management company index module is configured to:

collect stock price data of the group of investment management companies on a re-balancing date;

associate a fixed monetary unit value to a stock portfolio comprising the group of investment management companies;

divide the fixed monetary unit value by a number of constituents in the group of investment management companies to obtain a constituent weighting value;

divide the stock price data by the constituent weighting value to obtain a constituent rebalancing value; and

generate a value for an investment management company index based on the constituent rebalancing value.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the constituent rebalancing value is an approximate value at which each constituent in the group of investment management companies is weighted.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the investment management company index module is further configured to:

divide the price by the constituent weighting value; and

round to the nearest share to obtain a number of shares assigned to the constituent at the re-balancing date.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the investment management company index module is further configured to:

adjust shares of the group of investment management companies to maintain that constituent's weight.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein a divisor maintains the continuity of the index.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the group of investment management companies comprise publicly traded investment management companies deriving at least 50% of their revenues from asset management.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a dissemination module in communication with the investment management company index module, the dissemination module comprising a processor and a memory, the processor configured to execute logic stored in the memory such that the dissemination module is configured to:

receive the generated value for the investment management company index from the investment management company index module; and

disseminate the generated value for the investment management company index over a communications network to market participants.

8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a trading module comprising a processor and a memory, the processor configured to execute logic stored in the memory such that the trading module is configured to:

receive buy and sell orders over a communications network for a position in a derivative instrument that is based on the value of the investment management company index generated by the investment management company index module.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the derivative instrument is an options contact.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the derivative instrument is a futures contact.

11. A system for creating a stock index for a group of investment management companies, the system comprising:

an investment management company index module comprising a processor and a memory, the processor configured to execute logic stored in the memory such that the investment management company index module is configured to:

obtain first trade information for each security representative of the group of investment management companies during a first time period;

aggregate the first trade information for the first time period;

store the aggregated first trade information;

calculate from the aggregated first trade information an index for the group of investment management companies;

determine a standardized measure of the index based on the aggregated first trade information; and

recalculate the index based on second trade information for each security representative of the group of investment management companies during a second time period.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising:

a dissemination module in communication with the investment management company index module, the dissemination module comprising a processor and a memory, the processor configured to execute logic stored in the memory such that the dissemination module is configured to:

receive the recalculated index associated with the group of investment management companies from the investment management company index module; and

disseminate the recalculated index associated with the group of investment management companies over a communications network to market participants.

13. The system of claim 11 , further comprising:

a trading module comprising a processor and a memory, the processor configured to execute logic stored in the memory such that the trading module is configured to:

receive buy and sell orders over a communications network for a position in a derivative instrument that is based on the index for the group of investment management companies generated by the investment management company index module.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the derivative instrument is an options contact.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the derivative instrument is a futures contact.