2024 Annual Report

Dear fellow shareholders,

When I first took over MSCI in the mid-1990s, it seemed like the world was becoming more and more connected with each passing year. The Cold War had ended, the West had emerged victorious, and free-market democracy had spread across Europe, Asia and Latin America. Against that backdrop, it was easy to feel optimistic about the triumph of globalization.

Operating Revenue (in millions)

Today, many people fear that the world is “deglobalizing” amid rising geopolitical tensions, populism and protectionism. However, the numbers tell a different story. In 2024, the total value of global trade hit a new all-time high ($33 trillion), according to the United Nations. Likewise, the DHL Global Connectedness Index — which measures trade, capital, information and people flows worldwide — stayed near record levels.

Instead of deglobalization, we have witnessed a phenomenon that might be called “re-globalization,” with the international movement of goods and services shifting but not declining. For example, while the share of U.S. goods imports coming directly from China has fallen since 2017, the U.S. received record imports from 50 other countries last year, while sending record exports to 41 countries, according to the Commerce Department.

Something similar is happening in the investment sector, which remains highly globalized and essential to connecting companies, industries, countries and regions. A series of disparate trends have intersected and amplified each other, causing historic disruptions and accelerating the overall pace of change.

The net effect has been to transform how market participants evaluate risks and opportunities, how investors access data and use analytics to develop insights, and how money moves around the world.

At MSCI, we have embraced these changes and designed our strategy to capture their impact. As a result, we are well positioned to expand our global footprint with both established and newer client segments while continuing to diversify our products and services.

In 2024, we delivered strong financial metrics that once again demonstrated our scale and leadership in serving the global investment ecosystem. For the full year, we posted overall revenue growth of nearly 13%, adjusted earnings-per-share growth of 12.4%, free-cash-flow growth of 21%, and share repurchases of $810 million.

From 2012 through the end of 2024, MSCI repurchased more than 50 million shares, worth a combined $6.6 billion, at an average price of about $129.78 per share, creating enormous value for our shareholders.

Meanwhile, as of June 30, 2024, around $16.5 trillion in assets under management (AUM) were benchmarked to MSCI indexes, including roughly $5.5 trillion of passively managed AUM in equity-ETF and non-listed products.

For more information on our business, operations, and financial condition as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024, please review our 2024 Annual Report.

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