Euronext Amsterdam – Celebrating 40 years of the AEX-Index

The famous AEX-Index was the first national blue-chip index in Europe. It was founded on 4 March 1983.  The AEX-Index contains 25 companies from the top segment of Euronext Amsterdam, including many multinationals such as Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever, Heineken and ASML.

The index was developed by Tjerk Westerterp, the former CEO of the European Options Exchange (EOE). He designed this very first index on the back of a cigarette box, on a train journey between Liège and Luxembourg. He came up with 13 funds: ABN Bank, Ahold, Akzo, Amro Bank, Gist-Brocades, Heineken, Hoogovens, KLM, Royal Dutch, Nationale Nederlanden, Philips, Unilever and Nedlloyd. Eleven of these thirteen ‘founding fathers’ are still present in the current AEX-Index and Midcap Index.

Nowadays, the AEX-Index is still the benchmark for the Dutch capital market. The companies included in the index are still largely of Dutch origin and the composition of the index remains a reflection of the developments in the Dutch economy and society.

To honour the 40th anniversary of the AEX-Index, Euronext Amsterdam welcomed two generations of family members of the founder Tjerk Westerterp for a traditional and celebratory Gong ceremony.