25 years MDAX

Germany's most important midcap index is not only performing well on its birthday. 

MDAX facts

  • Birthday: January 19, 1996.

  • Contains the largest companies by market capitalization and order book turnover below the DAX universe, (which are not tech stocks).

  • There are two MDAX variants: a performance index, which includes dividends and other distributions, and a price index, also called a price index, which only tracks the price performance of the stocks in the index. The performance index is usually given as the index level.

Top performance

  • Level at the start: 2,629 points. 
  • Status at birthday: 31,206 points.
  • Annual performance since then: 10.9 percent.
  • Crises survived: Asian crisis in 1998, dotcom bubble in 2000, financial crisis in 2007-2008, Covid-19 last year.
     
  • Largest daily loss: -10.9 percent on March 12, 2020.
  • Largest daily gain: +12 percent on October 13, 2008. 
  • All-time high: 31,626 during the course, 31,572 on a closing price basis on January 14, 2020.

Media-wise rather in the second tier, the MDAX plays in the first league in terms of performance. The strength of smaller companies is evident when compared with the 30-stock DAX: since its launch, the MDAX has generated a return of 1,083 percent, while the DAX has gained 485 percent. Most of this outperformance was achieved over the past ten years.

The companies

From AEG to Weru - these companies were there at the start and are there today: Dürr, Gea, Gerresheimer, Hochtief, Rheinmetall and Varta. 

On average, the market capitalization of MDAX companies today is 4.9 billion euros, compared with 34.8 billion euros for DAX stocks. 

MDAX to invest in

In addition to individual stocks, there is also the option of investing in the entire index. Six ETFs are listed on Xetra and the Frankfurt trading floor. A total of 3.2 billion euros is invested in MDAX ETFs. Overview of available MDAX ETFs

A good 7,000 investment and leverage products as well as warrants on the MDAX are offered on the Frankfurt certificate exchange. All conceivable types, maturities and strike prices are available.

Futures and options on the MDAX are traded at Eurex. At the end of 2020, open interest in these derivatives market products was over 950 million euros.

 

Look ahead

The MDAX is part of the DAX family, which also includes the DAX, SDAX and TecDAX.

In September 2018, the methodology of the MDAX was adjusted, removing a sector separation that excluded technology stocks from inclusion in MDAX and SDAX. 

This year, further new rules will be introduced to increase the quality of member companies and align selection criteria with international standards. In the future, companies in the DAX selection indices will publish their annual financial statements promptly and have an internal independent audit committee. The selection criterion of trading turnover will be replaced by minimum liquidity in September this year, with market capitalization remaining the decisive indicator, as is customary internationally. In addition, in the future it will be sufficient to be listed on the regulated market of the stock exchange. 

18 January 2021, © Deutsche Börse AG