SWITZERLAND – Index group Stoxx has named Elizabeth von Werra, a fund manager at Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, as its new managing director.

Von Werra, 41, joins on September 1 and will replace interim managing director Ettore Candolfi who will leave the company at the same time.

The appointment comes as Stoxx is facing intensified competition in the European index market following the launch of the FTSEurofirst series by FTSE Group and Euronext. And it means a permanent replacement for Scott Stark, who left at the end of last year.

“She just fits very well into this position,” said a Stoxx spokeswoman, citing von Werra’s languages and knowledge of European financial markets.

Christoph Lammersdorf, chairman of the company’s supervisory board, said: "With her business sense and her years of experience in fund management, Ms. von Werra is an ideal candidate for the Stoxx Ltd. managing director and we are confident that she will build on the Stoxx's success as the preferred index family for Europe."

Stoxx, a joint venture between Deutsche Boerse, Dow Jones and Swiss Exchange SWX, said von Werra has been fund manager at Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie in Geneva, where she managed the Industrial Fund.

The firm also said that Dow Jones Indexes’ president Michael Petronella is to take over the rotating chairmanship from Lammersdorf.

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