The CDX North America Investment Grade Index (CDX IG) enables real-time observation of market behavior while providing a trade-efficient way to measure the broader credit market. Building on that foundation, S&P Dow Jones Indices has launched a new index that provides an additional tool for measuring and navigating a key segment of the North American credit market—the CDX Financials Index.
The CDX Financials Index was designed with considerable feedback from market participants to reflect the most relevant segments of the North American financial credit market. A critical design decision was the exclusion of globally systemically important banks, whose regulatory constraints could potentially prohibit them from transacting in the new index. The resulting 25-constituent, equally weighted index includes several distinct segments of the financial credit landscape through a multi-step inclusion process that blends credit default swap (CDS) market liquidity with cash bond market signals.
CDS Liquidity Anchor: Insurers and REITs
The CDX Financials Index includes the most liquid insurers and REITs from the single-name CDS market, providing a liquidity anchor with credits that are familiar to CDS market participants. Names like MetLife, Prudential Financial, American International Group, Allstate and Simon Property Group have deep CDS trading histories and established dealer coverage. Their presence helps facilitate two-way trading activity from the outset and reduces the adoption friction that can accompany new ideas.
BDC Inclusion: Connecting CDS to Private Credit
The new index also includes three business development companies (BDCs), selected as described in this section. The BDC component is perhaps the most distinctive feature of the CDX Financials Index. The methodology identifies BDCs from the iBoxx $ Corporates—a broad benchmark measuring the USD-denominated corporate bond market—using the S&P Global BDC Classification Schema. Eligible BDC entities are ranked by aggregate notional amount outstanding at the issuer level, and the three highest-ranked BDCs are selected for inclusion. For Series 46, this results in the inclusion of Apollo Debt Solutions BDC, Ares Capital Corporation and Blackstone Private Credit Fund.
BDCs are closed-end investment companies that provide financing to small- and medium-sized enterprises, typically through debt investments. Regulated by the SEC and required to distribute at least 90% of taxable income, BDCs operate within a public market framework while offering exposure to private credit risk. Many BDCs issue publicly traded debt in the corporate bond market, making them a natural bridge between public and private credit.
This bridge is increasingly relevant. The global private credit market was estimated at approximately USD 3 trillion in assets under management at the start of 2025, up from roughly USD 2 trillion in 2020, with some estimates projecting the market could reach USD 3.5 trillion or more in the coming years. As the asset class has grown, so have questions around liquidity management, valuation transparency and the structural challenges of offering semi-liquid access to inherently illiquid loan portfolios—dynamics that have drawn heightened scrutiny to the sector in recent months, including the September 2025 bankruptcies of First Brands Group and Tricolor Holdings, the wave of non-traded BDC redemption caps in March and April 2026, and the broader repricing of direct-lending risk. The CDX Financials Index is considered the first CDS index tracking private credit risk, offering a liquid, transparent instrument to measure this increasingly important source of financial credit risk.
Regional Banks: A Targeted North American Banking Focus
After the inclusions based on CDS liquidity and the selection of the three BDCs, the index then selects regional bank issuers until it reaches 25. These banks are selected from the iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index, based on a ranking determined by cash market criteria that includes their outstanding amount of debt and Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine trading volumes.
