Wilshire's US Style Indexes are benchmarks used to evaluate the performance of active managers. With roots back to Wilshire's 1986 release of the Wilshire Target Style Indexes, the Wilshire US Style Indexes were created in 1996 with methodology revisions in 2005. The indexes separate the Wilshire 5000 into four capitalization groups (Large, Small, Mid and Micro), and then divide the Large, Small and Mid-Cap issues by float adjusted capitalization equally into growth and value indexes. Growth and value is defined by looking at six factors: Projected Price-to-earnings ratio, projected earnings growth, price-to-book ratio, dividend yield, trailing revenue growth and trailing earnings growth. The Indexes' purpose is to help fund sponsors measure the performance of managers relative to their respective investment management style.

Click here for background on various Wilshire index families.