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Guillermo Cano

Guillermo Cano

Executive Director, MSCI Research

Guillermo Cano is an Executive Director on the Index Solutions team, focused on working with asset owners on global and factor index strategies. Previously, he held several roles at FTSE Russell, including Director of Alternatively Weighted Indexes for the Americas and Europe. Guillermo holds an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Washington and a BA in Music and Business Administration from the University of Miami.

Research and Insights

Articles by Guillermo Cano

    ESG and Climate In Focus: 2023 Index Performance Review

    6 mins read Blog | Mar 6, 2024 | Guillermo Cano, Xinxin Wang

    A bright spot in an often-tumultuous 2023 was the ability of the MSCI ESG and Climate Indexes to meet or exceed their stated objectives, which ranged from maximizing ESG score to reducing carbon emissions.  

    What’s Been Driving the Carbon Footprint of the MSCI Climate Action Indexes?

    6 mins read Blog | Feb 8, 2024 | Xinxin Wang, Guillermo Cano, Manish Shakdwipee

    We take a deep dive into the financed-emissions intensity of the MSCI Climate Action Indexes by isolating the effect of various decarbonization drivers to offer a comparative perspective against their parent indexes.

    Climate and ESG Indexes in Focus: Let’s Get Specific

    6 mins read Blog | Jul 31, 2023 | Manish Shakdwipee, Guillermo Cano, Xinxin Wang

    How did our flagship climate and ESG indexes fare versus the broader market in the second quarter? And how much did constituent companies decarbonize since the quarter before? We delve into the specifics.

    Understanding the MSCI Climate Action Indexes

    Research Report | Jun 12, 2023 | Kumar Neeraj, Guillermo Cano

    The MSCI Climate Action Indexes offer an additional approach to climate investing by selecting companies in each sector that have reduced or committed to reduce emissions, seem well-positioned to manage climate risk and have generated green revenues. 

    Climate and ESG Indexes in Focus: Sectors Told the Story

    6 mins read Blog | May 8, 2023 | Guillermo Cano, Yuliya Plyakha Ferenc, Manish Shakdwipee, Román Mendoza

    We review the drivers of performance for ESG and climate indexes over the first quarter of 2023, and investigate the explanatory power of the carbon-efficiency factor over time. 

    Parallel Benchmarking for Climate Alignment

    5 mins read Blog | Jan 5, 2023 | Saurabh Katiyar, Guillermo Cano, Román Mendoza

    Broad market-cap weighted indexes might not fully assess climate-objective alignment. We believe that an appropriate parallel benchmark could help illustrate this alignment, improve transparency and allow investors to make more informed decisions.

    Portfolio Intelligence Through a Carbon-Efficiency Factor

    6 mins read Blog | Sep 1, 2022 | Peter Zangari, Donald Sze, Guillermo Cano

    The transition to a low-carbon economy may trigger a major transformation of the global economy, generating significant risks and opportunities for companies and investors.

    Value and Growth Investing as ESG and Climate Friendly

    6 mins read Blog | Jul 28, 2022 | Guillermo Cano, Padmakar Kulkarni

    Many investors may be seeking to align their value- or growth-oriented portfolios with the consideration of ESG as well as the transition to a low-carbon economy. We detail several approaches for working toward these investment objectives.

    Since the War, ESG Mattered for Equities

    2 mins read Quick Take | Mar 31, 2022 | Peter Zangari

    One month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we looked at the impact it has had on the equities of European firms, given their proximity to the theater and reliance on Russian oil, and investigated what role ESG has played.

    Net-Zero Alignment: Portfolio Construction Approaches for Investors

    Research Report | Dec 1, 2021 | Saurabh Katiyar, Guillermo Cano

    Post-COP26, the need to reach net-zero is more compelling than ever. How can investors approach a net-zero pathway in their equities portfolio? We explore three portfolio-construction approaches that target reductions in carbon emissions over time.

    Understanding MSCI Climate Indexes: Methodologies, Facts and Figures

    Research Report | Nov 2, 2021 | Saurabh Katiyar, Guillermo Cano, Guido Giese, Abhishek Srivastav, Christine Chardonnens

    Integrating climate considerations into benchmarks is one way to build a consistent framework for integrating climate risk across an entire equity portfolio. We discuss four categories of climate indexes that reflect investor objectives and preferences.

    What Really Drove Value and Growth Fund Performance?

    5 mins read Blog | May 14, 2021 | Abhishek Gupta, Guillermo Cano

    Many look to market-cap indexes when comparing the performance characteristics of growth and value funds — including manager skill. We found a switch to style indexes reduced industry- and style-factor contributions and made manager skill more apparent.

    Are Growth and Value Indexes Still in Style?

    5 mins read Blog | Mar 9, 2021 | Guillermo Cano, Abhishek Gupta

    Growth and value indexes were created in the 1980s as finer tools than market-cap indexes to measure the performance of growth and value funds. Are style-specific indexes still a relevant choice to use as benchmarks for these funds?

    Factoring in ESG

    5 mins read Blog | Feb 26, 2021 | Guillermo Cano, Simon Minovitsky

    How much does ESG contribute to portfolio risk and return? We looked at whether ESG performance was influenced by other factors or helped explain returns as a factor in its own right, using the MSCI Global Equity Factor Model + ESG.

    Is There a Green-to-Fossil-Fuel Premium?

    7 mins read Blog | Aug 25, 2020 | Guillermo Cano, Gaurav Trivedi

    As investors evaluate the possible reallocation of capital around the transition toward a low-carbon future, we analyzed the characteristics and performance of companies engaged in green versus carbon-intensive activities. Was there evidence of a “green-to-fossil-fuel premium”?

    Quantifying ESG fund performance

    Blog | Apr 6, 2020 | Raina Oberoi, Guillermo Cano

    One challenge facing investors is how to quantify the impact ESG has had on their investment process. We analyzed top ESG funds to better understand the contribution of the ESG factor to their performance.

    The value of standards in the investment process

    Blog | Dec 2, 2019 | Guillermo Cano

    Standards can establish a common language and provide clarity among market participants. We examine three to see how they can help evaluate returns, quantify factor exposures and measure the impact of changes in sector and industry trends.

    Cyclicals vs. defensives: Did tariffs tip the scales?

    Blog | Nov 5, 2019 | Guillermo Cano

    Did tariffs imposed by the U.S. and China in May trigger a shift to defensive from cyclical stocks? How did they affect different U.S. sectors and industry groups?

    Factors and ESG: The Truth Behind Three Myths

    Blog | Mar 20, 2019 | Guillermo Cano

    There are misconceptions of the relationship between factors and ESG issues. We debunked three common myths about ESG, momentum, quality and smaller-cap stocks.

    What market volatility has meant for factors

    Blog | Feb 13, 2019 | Guillermo Cano

    As investors continue to focus on factor investing in periods of heightened volatility, we ask how volatility has affected factor performance.

    Can the Right Benchmark Improve your Vision?

    Blog | Jul 26, 2018 | Guillermo Cano

    As interest in ESG investing continues to grow, so does the number of actively managed strategies that integrate environmental, social and governance considerations into their investment processes. However, institutional investors and managers have been benchmarking many of these ESG-tilted strategies against standard market-cap-weighted indexes. While these indexes provide a broad basis for evaluating performance, they lack the ability to provide the insights that might be gained from...