Prior MSCI research has shown that ESG momentum — a measure of year-over-year changes to a company’s industry-adjusted ESG score — has been an impactful financial indicator, but it’s important to reassess its validity in the current market environment.

Direct indexing has prompted wealth managers to evaluate their implementation choices for individual clients. Our research focuses on aspects of the wealth manager’s implementation of direct indexing as well as tax optimization.

Given the complexity of U.S. tax regulation, wealth advisers continue to grapple with how to build tax-efficient portfolios while balancing clients’ other objectives. We propose a rules-based way of doing so and analyze its benefits and trade-offs.