Assets in equity ETFs linked to MSCI Indexes surge past $1 trillion

MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, announced today that the assets in equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to its indexes crossed the $1 trillion mark on November 16, 2020.

Asset growth in equity ETFs linked to MSCI’s indexes has been fuelled by strong investor demand for transparent and liquid products to access global equity markets. More recent growth has been driven by the rising focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) and climate considerations and the interest in factor index-linked strategies. Today there are over 1,500 equity and fixed income ESG and climate indexes that utilize MSCI ESG Research ratings and data and the demand for standard and custom solutions in this area is growing.

As indexed investing continues to rise, MSCI believes ESG, climate, factors, thematic and fixed income investment will mark the next stage of growth for ETF-linked exposures. There are over $71 billion in ESG and climate equity ETF assets linked to MSCI indexes, with seven of the ten largest equity ESG ETFs in the U.S. all benchmarked to MSCI indexes.1

Henry Fernandez, MSCI’s Chairman and CEO, said: “The investment industry continues a tremendous transformation towards new opportunities including new geographies, new asset classes, new styles and strategies, and more sustainable investing. MSCI is positioned to be the change agent that helps investors stay at the forefront of that transformation and on the efficient frontier of risk and return, as well as the partner of choice for investors around the world who are seeking exposure to the world’s capital markets and need to understand the opportunity set.”

Baer Pettit, MSCI’s President and COO, said: “Over the past 50 years, MSCI has been a leader in providing indexes and other research-driven, technology-enabled tools and solutions for global investors, initially with market-cap indexes across geographies and industries. By focusing on establishing an innovation mindset, we have empowered our teams to explore creative, robust and holistic tools and solutions to help our clients make better informed investment decisions.”

Diana Tidd, MSCI’s Head of Index, added: “This milestone reflects MSCI’s position as a leading provider of index solutions to ETF providers globally. We continue to see fast adoption of our indexes as institutional investors turn to them to help understand the global investable universe, build sustainable, diversified portfolios, and identify long-term financial risks and opportunities.”

About MSCI

MSCI is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 45 years of expertise in research, data and technology, we power better investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyse key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. We create industry-leading research-enhanced solutions that clients use to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process. To learn more, please visit www.msci.com.

Notice

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or performance and involve risks that may cause actual results or performance differ materially and you should not place undue reliance on them. Risks that could affect results or performance are in MSCI’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the SEC on February 18, 2020. MSCI does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements.

No information herein constitutes investment advice or should be relied on as such. MSCI grants no right or license to use the information contained herein. MSCI MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR OTHERWISE WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION HEREIN AND DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

1Calculated by MSCI using information from Refinitiv and Bloomberg.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201201005811/en/