Book excerpt: For over three decades, indexing has become increasingly accepted by both institutional and individual investors. Index benchmarks and investment products that track them have been a driving force in the transformation of investment strategy from art to science. Yet investors’ understanding of the sophistication of this burgeoning field has lagged the growing use of index products. Active Index Investing is the definitive guide to how indexes are constructed, how index-based portfolios are managed, and how the world’s most sophisticated investors use index-based strategies to enhance performance, reduce costs and minimize the risks of investing. Active Index Investing provides a comprehensive overview of (1) the investment theories that are the foundation of index based investing, (2) best practices in benchmark construction, (3) the growing world of index-based investment vehicles, (4) cutting-edge index portfolio management techniq ues and (5) the myriad ways investors can and do capture the benefits of indexing. Active Index Investing has a unique format that captures the views and perspectives of over 40 of the investment industry’s leading experts and practitioners, while maintaining a holistic view of this complex subject matter. In addition to the Appendix and Glossary within the book, it features an E-ppendix, available at www.IndexUniverse.com