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Zach Tokura

Zach Tokura

Vice President, MSCI Research

Zach Tokura is a member of the research team focused on model validation and best practices, providing clients with customized modeling recommendations across MSCI analytics. His main areas of research include developing validation techniques in areas where no standards exist, such as private asset classes, and conducting research at the intersection of regulatory and market trends and their impact on single-security analytics.

Research and Insights

Articles by Zach Tokura

    Does the CoCo Market Have Faith in Regulators?

    2 mins read Quick Take | Apr 4, 2023 | Zach Tokura, Michael Hayes

    The write-down of Credit Suisse’s contingent convertible bonds to zero following its takeover by UBS has left investors questioning just how much risk there is in these instruments. Assurances from regulators don’t seem to have calmed markets.

    Cross-Currency Credit Spreads: Mind the Gap

    5 mins read Blog | Feb 8, 2021 | Michael Hayes, Zach Tokura

    An issuer’s credit spread should be consistent when measured in the USD- or EUR-denominated markets, because both are measuring the same credit risk. Yet divergence can occur as a result of liquidity or supply-demand imbalances, such as those in the COVID crisis.

    Backtesting Private Asset Models

    Research Report | Jun 19, 2020 | Yang Liu, Zach Tokura, Peter Shepard, Balazs Vajda

    MSCI’s Barra Private Real Estate Model (PRE2), Barra Private Equity Model (PEQ2) and MSCI Private Infrastructure Model (PIN1) have advanced the understanding of investments in global private assets. Private assets were once considered low-risk investments uncorrelated with most public assets due to the smoothness in private asset valuations. With innovative statistical methodology, the MSCI private asset models reveal the intrinsic risk in private assets, show large exposures to systematic...

    Have corporate green bonds offered lower yields?

    Blog | Mar 10, 2020 | Zach Tokura

    Green bonds tended to offer lower yields than comparable non-green corporate bonds. What could explain green bonds’ lower yields? And is there any relationship between green-bond issuers’ environmental scores and bond yields?