Critical minerals refer to a broad category of raw materials (including minerals, elements, and other substances) that are crucial to modern industrial activity. Of particular interest are rare earth elements, a group of seventeen metallic elements that are essential to industries such as electronics, batteries, defense and satellite systems, medical technologies, and energy. In this piece, Syntax Data explores the investment performance of companies involved in the extraction and processing of critical minerals, finding that those with higher risk characteristics have outperformed recently.

​​In 2025, The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed a list of critical minerals, 15 of which are rare earth elements, that are both essential to the nation’s economic activity and whose supply chains are vulnerable to disruption, either due to geopolitical factors, trade policy, or rapidly increasing global demand. The list was derived from an initial set of 84 mineral commodities, which were ranked according to their economic importance and likelihood of trade disruption. Each commodity was assigned a risk probability weighting, calculated by multiplying the likelihood of a trade disruption scenario by the impact of that scenario, and proposed for inclusion on the final list if the risk probability was classified as high, elevated, or moderate.
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Originally published by Syntax Data on January 22, 2026. Read full article here.

Syntax Data, a financial data and technology provider offering data-optimized index solutions, and PM Insights, a leading independent market data provider for venture-backed private companies, announced a strategic partnership that combines Syntax’s proprietary company classification system with PM Insights’ comprehensive private market dataset. As institutional investors increasingly allocate to private markets amid extended IPO timelines and the rise of late-stage ‘private IPO’ rounds, the need for standardized classification and benchmarking across public and private assets has become critical.
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​The partnership unlocks analytical transparency by combining PM Insights’ extensive coverage of mid-to-late stage venture-backed private companies with Syntax’s patented Functional Information System (FIS®) classification framework. Syntax has codified the business models for private companies with more than $3 trillion in market value alongside 12,500 public companies. FIS® also provides the ability to look at both private and public companies through multiple dimensions and thematic lenses. This represents the first integrated classification system to apply institutional-grade indexing methodology across both public and private company universes, enabling institutional investors, registered investment advisors (RIAs), and asset managers to conduct more accurate, competitive benchmarking and derive actionable insights across traditionally siloed markets.

Originally posted on Business Wire on November 11, 2025. Read the full article here. ​

Syntax Data, a financial data and technology provider offering data-optimized index solutions, today announced that Bruce Traan has joined the firm as President and COO of the Index Division. In this capacity, Traan will oversee operations, data policy, and business development for Syntax’s index business. He will also serve as an executive member of the Syntax Data LLC management committee, where his responsibilities will include overall business development and operations.

Traan brings a fresh dynamic to Syntax’s index business, where his broad experience in multi-asset, international markets, and data distribution will augment and enhance Syntax’s world-class development and production teams. Syntax currently provides custom index services and solutions to a wide range of well-recognized global financial institutions. The company recently launched Syntax Direct, a forward-looking index development tool that revolutionizes the rapidly growing direct-to-index investment process.

Originally published on Business Wire on November 3, 2025. Read full article here.

Syntax Data will host a special event for UN Climate Week 2025: Investing in a Resilient Future, Innovation, Data & Capital for Energy, Food, Water and Climate Solutions.

Location:
Midtown Loft & Terrace Venues: 267 5th Ave, NY, NY 10016

Date and Time:
​Tuesday, September 23, from 3:00-6:00 PM
(With Cocktail Hour, Hors D’oeuvres and Networking to Follow)

Click the link below to see the agenda, speakers, and more. To request an invite to the event, please email [email protected].

Originally published in Citybiz on September 4, 2025. Read full article here.

Syntax Data, a financial data and technology provider offering data-optimized custom index solutions, is at the heart of two major ETF launches reshaping sector-focused investing and large-cap diversification across the S&P 500 universe.

Syntax played a key role in the development of the WEBs Investments Defined Volatility Sector ETFs – a suite of 11 funds listed on the Nasdaq that applies the Defined Volatility strategy to the individual sectors within the S&P 500 – by creating the custom Defined Volatility indices that underpin each ETF in the suite. Syntax’s indices provide the dynamic, real-time volatility framework used by the ETFs, evaluating 21-day realized volatility daily and adjusting sector exposure accordingly. Syntax’s involvement ensured that the ETFs could offer precise, transparent, and adaptive sector-based risk management as their core investment approach.

Originally published on Citybiz on July 30, 2025. Read full article here.

On Friday, May 23, 2025, the Trump Administration signed four executive orders aimed at reaffirming U.S. leadership in nuclear energy. These directives called for expanding nuclear capacity and accelerating the deployment of advanced reactor technologies like microreactors and small modular reactors (SMRs). These newer technologies seek to address the cost, timing and safety challenges historically associated with nuclear power.

Leveraging Syntax’s proprietary classification data, we analyzed the year-to-date performance of three key nuclear sub-groups: Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), Uranium, and Generation.
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​Originally published by Syntax Data on July 10, 2025. Read full article here.

The role financial advisors play is both important and complex. Their guidance can be invaluable to clients who need assistance in achieving financial security, and their job requires a depth of knowledge in order to provide a range of valuable advice – all within the context of understanding the goals of each individual client amongst a large client base. The position also places an emphasis on relationship skills that allow them to successfully help clients manage through difficult markets and life events that will impact their financial planning.

This paper offers an appreciation for:

• The work financial advisors perform for their clients. 
• How they have been proactive in capturing the benefits of new technology to lower fees for their clients and better manage their businesses. 
• How they have been closing the gap between retail and institutional investors

To illustrate the breadth and scope of financial advisors' work, Syntax Data examined institutional investors in order to then connect these insights to financial advisors and their clients.​

​Originally published by Syntax Data on June 12, 2025. Read full article here.

Syntax Data, a financial data and technology provider offering data-optimized index solutions, announced a strategic partnership with Prometheum ATS, a FINRA member and SEC-registered broker-dealer and trading platform for blockchain-based securities. Prometheum ATS is a subsidiary of Prometheum Inc. (“Prometheum”), a market infrastructure provider for blockchain-based securities.

Syntax and Prometheum ATS will bridge traditional indexing with blockchain-enabled market infrastructure, supporting the next phase of growth for blockchain-based securities and investment products. The collaboration will start by extending Syntax Direct’s direct indexing capabilities to RIAs and other institutions trading through Prometheum ATS. The firms will also explore the creation of bespoke indices enabling the development of on-chain investment products from RIAs, asset managers, banks, and product issuers.

Originally published on Business Wire on June 10, 2025. Read full article here.

Syntax Data, a financial data and technology provider offering data-optimized index solutions, and Donoghue Forlines, a Boston-based tactical investment firm that specializes in active risk-managed portfolios, today announced a strategic partnership to offer index strategies aimed at mitigating downside risk. The strategic partnership recently launched two indexes, the Donoghue Forlines Risk-Managed Momentum Index and the Donoghue Forlines Risk-Managed Dividend Index.

​Both indexes, available now, are tracked by two separately managed accounts (SMAs) that are approved and available to advisors on the LPL Model Wealth Platform (MWP), Envestnet, Fidelity Managed Account Exchange (FMAX), Orion Portfolio Solutions, Adhesion Wealth, Amplify, Brookstone, Goldman Sachs Folio Institutional, Pershing Manager Gateway, and SMArtX Advisory Solutions TAMP platforms.  Further, both strategies are offered as mutual fund and variable insurance trusts.

Originally published on Business Wire on June 3, 2025. Read full article here.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly emerged as a compelling financial opportunity. As AI technologies advance at an unprecedented pace, proponents are excited by its potential to transform virtually every industry, from healthcare to logistics to insurance to manufacturing. The demand for AI technology from all corners of the economy has spurred massive growth in the many firms developing hardware, software, and services to support this work, with governments and corporations alike pouring billions into AI research and infrastructure. Correspondingly, AI has become an attractive strategic theme in investment portfolios, making it a focal point for those seeking high-growth, future-oriented opportunities.

​In this case study highlighting how an advisor can use Syntax Direct to create a custom index solution for a client looking to invest in the artificial intelligence space. Syntax demonstrates the steps taken to create the custom Artificial Intelligence Index and illustrate the information that is readily available in Syntax Direct to support the sample case study. In addition to enabling the creation of personalized index solutions, Syntax Direct supports the reporting and regulatory needs of advisors by providing immediate access to both factsheets and index rulebooks, compliance-ready documents that detail the key methodologies used to create and backtest each index.

​​Originally published on SyntaxData.com on May 22, 2025. Read full article here.