The idea was simple — and born out of Wall Street.
Bernard McSherry, the founding dean of the New Jersey City University School of Business and a former governor at the New York Stock Exchange, wanted to create a way to chart the progress of the top New Jersey public companies.
Not companies that are based in New York City and elsewhere with a large presence in the state. But those that have decided to call New Jersey their home.
With that, the NJCU New Jersey 50 index fund was born.
“New Jersey is home to a wide variety of publicly traded corporations, from huge global pharmaceuticals to technology innovators, consumer goods companies and retailers,” McSherry said.
“The NJCU New Jersey 50 contains a diverse group of stocks that can be effectively used to gauge how well businesses in New Jersey are succeeding.”
The NJCU New Jersey 50 Index was created in December 2017 in partnership with Standard & Poor’s and under the direction of Christopher Versace, chief investment officer of Tematica Research and the faculty adviser to the NJCU student investment management group, which was instrumental in creating the index.
The index is available under the ticker NJCU50PR.
Versace said the index will be rebalanced on a quarterly basis, and NJCU will note any additions or deletions from organizations comprising the Index.
The companies on the index are well known.
Some are national (if not international): Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Honeywell, Campbell Soup, Prudential and Celgene.
Some are household names throughout the state: Public Service Enterprise Group, Investors Bank, Mack-Cali and Bed Bath & Beyond.
Others are rising stars: Verisk, Vonage, Zoetis and Integra Lifesciences
All are important to the state’s economy.
Better yet, all reflect the status of the state’s economy, McSherry said.
“We created this index as a barometer to represent the state’s economy,” he said.
McSherry said the index will let the state know how it stands in comparison to others.
“The index is a reference and perspective point as it focuses on New Jersey versus the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500,” he said.
Versace said its usefulness will go beyond those working with stocks.
“It will provide those in the financial world, researchers, journalists and students with a daily snapshot of the New Jersey economy,” he said
So, how’s the state doing?
As of Wednesday afternoon, the fund was trading at $1,096.09, up more than 2.5 percent year to date.
The NJCU New Jersey 50 index fund
- ADP (ADP)
- AdvanSix (ASIX)
- American Water Works (AWK)
- Ascena Retail Group (ASNA)
- Avis Budget Group (CAR)
- B&G Foods (BGS)
- Becton Dickinson (BDX)
- Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY)
- Bel Fuse (BELFB)
- Burlington Stores (BURL)
- Cambrex (CBM)
- Campbell Soup (CPB)
- Cantel Medical (CMD)
- Catalent (CTLT)
- Celgene (CELG)
- Church & Dwight (CHD)
- Children’s Place (PLCE)
- Cognizant (CTSH)
- Commvault (CVLT)
- Dun & Bradstreet (DNB)
- Honeywell (HON)
- Integra Lifesciences (IART)
- Investors Bank (ISBC)
- J&J Snack Foods (JJSF)
- John Wiley & Sons (JWA)
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
- Lakeland Bancorp (LBAI)
- Mack-Cali Realty (CLI)
- Merck (MRK)
- Movado Group (MOV)
- New Jersey Resources (NJR)
- NRG Energy (NRG)
- Pacira Pharmaceuticals (PCRX)
- PBF Energy (PBF)
- Phibro Animal Health (PAHC)
- Pinnacle Foods (PF)
- Provident Financial (PFS)
- Prudential Financial (PRU)
- Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG)
- Quest Diagnostics (DGX)
- Realogy Holdings (RLGY)
- Selective Insurance Group (SIGI)
- Suburban Propane (SPH)
- Universal Display (OLED)
- Valley National Bancorp (VLY)
- Verisk Analytics (VRSK)
- Village Super Market (VLGEA)
- Vonage Holdings (VG)
- Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (WH)
- Zoetis (ZTS)
