---
title: "Bringing Indexing into the 21st Century (ft. Tobias Sproehnle) — The Stepback, Ep. 1"
slug: bringing-indexing-into-21st-century
description: "41-minute interview with Tobias Sproehnle (founder of PANTA, formerly Moorgate Benchmarks/Morningstar) on reimagining index technology for modern finance — passive investing, private credit ETFs, AI-assisted index design, and regulatory transparency."
answer: "Tobias Sproehnle, who sold Moorgate Benchmarks to Morningstar in 2021, joins Jeevan Param to discuss PANTA — an index operating system that reduces bespoke index creation from six weeks to hours. Topics include the $6.5bn indexing industry's 20-30% annual growth, passive investing's expansion into private credit, AI in methodology design, and European BMR regulation."
entities:
  - indexing
  - indices
  - private credit
  - ETF
  - passive investing
  - PANTA
  - Moorgate Benchmarks
  - Morningstar
  - Tobias Sproehnle
  - Jeevan Param
  - Alterest
  - Benchmark Regulation
  - BMR
  - LIBOR
  - asset-based finance
  - asset manager
type: video
updated: "2026-04-15"
canonical: https://alterest.co/resources/videos/bringing-indexing-into-21st-century
source:
  route: /resources/videos/bringing-indexing-into-21st-century
  files:
    - src/content/videos/en-gb/bringing-indexing-into-21st-century.tsx
---

# Bringing Indexing into the 21st Century | The Stepback Ep. 1 | Alterest

41-minute interview with Tobias Sproehnle (PANTA) on modern index technology, hosted by Jeevan Param (Alterest).

## What is PANTA?

PANTA is an index operating system — two products: the **PANTA Lab** (front-end design and back-testing tool for asset managers) and the **PANTA Engine** (scalable index calculation and distribution). Tobias Sproehnle previously founded Moorgate Benchmarks, acquired by Morningstar in 2021.

## Key Topics

- **What indexing is**: designing, building, and distributing baskets of securities as underlying for trading/investment products and benchmarking tools
- **Value chain**: design → calculation → administration → distribution
- **PANTA vs legacy**: reduces bespoke index time-to-market from 6 weeks to hours; single platform across all asset classes (equity, fixed income, crypto, loans)
- **Private credit indexing**: the $6.5bn indexing industry is growing 20-30% annually; expansion into private credit and alternative asset classes is a key driver
- **AI usage**: methodology suggestion, conversational data querying, back-test pattern detection
- **Regulation**: European BMR (triggered by LIBOR/FX manipulation) likely to be condensed to significant benchmarks only, moving toward the Australian/Japanese model
- **Startup wisdom**: focus and people culture are critical; post-acquisition integration is harder than the exit itself

## About the Speakers

**Tobias Sproehnle** — Founder, PANTA (pantaindex.com). Former founder, Moorgate Benchmarks (acquired by Morningstar 2021). Career at Deutsche Borse, Eurex, IHS Markit, London Stock Exchange, Thomson Reuters.

**Jeevan Param** — Founder & CEO, Alterest (alterest.co). Private credit and ABF software platform.

## Watch

https://alterest.co/resources/videos/bringing-indexing-into-21st-century

Subscribe with a work email to watch in full. English captions available.