CIBC’s wholesale banking business has launched a set of tradable indices that offer investors easier access to interest rate and currency futures contracts, the bank announced on Monday.

The CIBC Financial Indices are a series of independent standalone indices, each of which is linked to the performance of a specific futures contract that is listed and traded on major exchanges: the CBOT, CME, MSE and Eurex. Levels are posted on Bloomberg and Reuters.

The indices benefit investors by eliminating the administrative burden of managing futures contracts, according to CIBC. They are open to all investors, many of whom have not previously been able to apply this type of interest rate and currency investment tool in their portfolios.

In addition, the indices allow investors to customize their exposure to specific interest rates and currencies, in Canadian dollars, U.S. dollars and Euros.

“Investors are paying very close attention to interest rates and currencies amid all the debate about what central banks may do in the year ahead,” said Bill Bamber, managing director of global derivatives at CIBC World Markets Inc. “Our indices allow all investors to invest in these asset classes in ways that would otherwise be difficult to manage or impossible to do outside of a futures account.”

CIBC is offering a range of products tied to the performance of the CIBC Financial Indices, including principal at risk notes, and later this year, principal protected notes for investors. In addition, institutional products include over-the-counter derivatives, swaps and forwards.

The CIBC Financial Indices are the latest in a series of proprietary indices that CIBC is launching as it broadens product offerings to meet investor demand. In June, the bank launched the CIBC Composite Commodities Index to give investors greater access to the resurgent commodities sector.

The company also plans to launch an equities index later this year.

IE