What is the history of the DJ-UBS commodity index and how did it become BCOM?

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AcadiFi · Accepted Answer

The Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index (DJ-UBS) is the direct predecessor to today's Bloomberg Commodity Index (BCOM). The rebranding occurred in July 2014 when Bloomberg LP acquired the UBS interest...

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Historical timeline: Originally launched in 1998 by AIG Financial Products as the AIG Commodity Index. After AIG's 2008 crisis, Dow Jones acquired the administration and UBS took the calculation agent role, creating the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index in 2009. Five years later Bloomberg consolidated the branding.

Throughout these rebrandings the core design — two-thirds liquidity plus one-third production weights with 15% single-commodity and 33% sector caps — was preserved. This is critical for FRM candidates using older study materials: when you see 'DJ-UBS' in a pre-2015 reading, read it as BCOM. The weights may have drifted as global production and liquidity shifted, but the methodology is identical.

Institutional impact: many ETFs and mutual funds that launched tracking DJ-UBS simply transitioned to BCOM without prospectus changes — funds like the Wisdom Bright Diversified Commodity Trust continued seamless operations. Pension plans benchmarking commodity allocations to DJ-UBS likewise rolled over.

One subtle point: BCOM's weight recalibration happens annually in January with publication of target weights in November, so historical attribution must account for weight drift between recalibrations. For exam purposes, treat DJ-UBS and BCOM as the same index, distinct from the production-weighted GSCI.

What is the history of the DJ-UBS commodity index and how did it become BCOM?

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