LONDON, April 30, 2026, 15:03 BST
- FTSE Russell’s April 30 “Rank Day” starts the 2026 Russell U.S. index reconstitution, with final changes due after the U.S. market close on June 26. LSEG
- The event lands as London Stock Exchange Group plc tries to prove that its index, data and markets businesses can keep growing after a record first quarter.
London Stock Exchange Group’s FTSE Russell on Thursday began the ranking stage of its 2026 Russell U.S. index reconstitution, a rules-based reshuffle that will decide which companies enter or leave one of the most widely watched sets of U.S. equity benchmarks.
The timing matters because reconstitution is more than an index housekeeping exercise. Funds, asset managers and trading desks track the changes closely because index membership can affect demand for shares once portfolios tied to the benchmarks are adjusted. FTSE Russell says about $19.89 trillion is benchmarked to its indexes.
This year also marks a shift in rhythm. FTSE Russell said the Russell U.S. Indexes are returning to semi-annual reconstitution in 2026, with the first reset in June and the second due in December. Preliminary additions and deletions are scheduled for May 22, followed by updates through mid-June before the new indexes take effect after the close on June 26.
For LSEG, the event comes at a useful time. The company said last week that first-quarter total income, excluding recoveries, rose 9.8% on an organic constant-currency basis, a measure that strips out foreign-exchange moves and certain deal effects. FTSE Russell revenue rose 8.8%, while the Markets division grew 15.5% as clients traded more actively in volatile markets.
Chief Executive David Schwimmer called it a “great start to 2026” and said LSEG was pressing ahead with its AI-ready data strategy. The company said more than 150 customers were connected or onboarding to its Model Context Protocol server, a system that lets artificial intelligence models connect with external data sources under set controls. LSEG
LSEG has also been adding to FTSE Russell’s index reach. On April 28, FTSE Russell and LPX AG expanded their partnership in listed private equity, private credit and broader alternatives indexes, with FTSE Russell taking on calculation, administration and global distribution of LPX’s established index suite while existing clients remain contracted with LPX.
Gerald Toledano, group head of equity and multi-assets at FTSE Russell, said the LPX partnership strengthened its push across the “full investable universe.” That is the broader point: LSEG is trying to sell more benchmarks and data into markets that sit beyond plain-vanilla public equities. LSEG
The competitive backdrop is tight. S&P Dow Jones Indices, MSCI and FTSE Russell are the top index providers in the wealth management market, according to S&P Global research, which said ETFs tracking indexes from those three firms account for more than half of total ETF assets.
Investors have been looking for evidence that LSEG can defend its data business as AI changes how financial professionals search, process and pay for information. Will Howlett, financials analyst at Quilter Cheviot, told Reuters that LSEG’s first-quarter beat and guidance move “should help ease concerns around the durability of growth.” Reuters
But the risk has not gone away. Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, wrote that LSEG owns scarce regulated datasets and critical market infrastructure, but also said uncertainty around AI disruption could linger and that the sharp share-price rebound was likely already behind it.
There is another caveat. Market volatility helped LSEG’s trading-linked businesses in the first quarter, and that boost may be harder to repeat if conditions calm. For now, markets remain unsettled: Reuters reported whiplash across European markets on Thursday as oil dropped after hitting a four-year high and investors watched central banks and Middle East risks.
The next test is practical, not rhetorical. FTSE Russell will publish preliminary Russell additions and deletions on May 22, update them on May 29, June 5, June 12 and June 18, and finalise the reconstitution after the U.S. close on June 26. The newly rebuilt indexes are due to open on June 29.
