Social Practices

Our senior leaders assess our people, succession plans and development plans for rising talent. Our goal is to ensure every employee benefits from career development and is inspired and engaged to perform at their very best.

We prioritize talent development and aim to improve managerial capabilities and team leadership. Strong management can help ensure future success through increased productivity and employee advancement. One example is our “LeaderShift” program, an in-person and on-demand online development program for junior to mid-career employees aimed at developing their managerial capabilities.

Our performance management practice, Success@MSCI, is the way through which managers and employees define and deliver on aligned goals that create value for our clients, shareholders and other stakeholders. We are constantly creating opportunities for employee career growth and development through internal mobility, new assignments and expanded responsibilities. These initiatives increase employee engagement and business performance, and are centered around transparency, empowerment and creating an environment that encourages open and honest communication.

To view current openings at MSCI, visit our Careers page.

For further information on human capital management, see our latest Sustainability Accounting Standard Board SASB report.

We encourage our employees to actively drive their performance, career and professional growth. We provide the tools, programs, practices and training to enable them to do so. We help our employees understand how their work aligns with our company-wide strategy, and we provide them with feedback and coaching to allow them to achieve their goals and develop their careers. By learning how their work fits into MSCI’s purpose and strategy, employees can focus on the needs of relevant stakeholders and are consequently more attune to client needs.

At MSCI, we think differently about how our employees should experience learning and skills opportunities. We have customized experiences to accommodate the learning needs and preferences of our employees, whether by role, location or knowledge level, to maximize their education and up-skill or re-skill where necessary. We strive to meet employees where they are, choosing from four delivery approaches that align with the flexibility of our “Future of Work” strategy and how employees prefer to learn:

• Experiences, exposure and educational opportunities for everyone, everywhere and at anytime
• Immersive knowledge and insights about our products, services and solutions
• Configurable online learning courses for all new and experienced employees and managers
• Targeted learning by development and skill needs, function and role

With our approach, we also encourage self-paced learning, which allows employees to customize their experience with access to over 20,000 online courses through LinkedIn Learning Pro. In 2023, more than 230,000 learning resources were viewed on our Learning@MSCI platform. This included an average of three hours of self-paced learning per employee. In 2023, our employees that participated in facilitated, live learning events spent approximately nine hours on average in such events.

Supporting External Education and Certifications

We place a high importance on supporting employee growth. Employees are encouraged to engage in career conversations to identify learning opportunities to support success in their role. While some of the most important skill development is happening day-to-day within their role, employees are encouraged to use their access to platforms provided by MSCI such as Learning@MSCI and LinkedIn Learning. For specialized needs, we partner with professional institutions and sponsor certifications.

As part of our support for employees undertaking external professional education, we created a strategic partnership with the CFA Institute. This helps employees enhance technical and investment related knowledge and skills. Employees across MSCI now have a more simplified approach to access formal qualifications ranging from: CFA foundations in investing, supporting our colleagues to improve their knowledge in sustainable investing, with the Certificate in Sustainable Investing as well as supporting our client facing teams with the CFA Chartered qualification. This structured learning is available to all our employees globally, along with a range of other role specific professional qualifications.

To learn more, visit our Careers page.

Our December 2023 employee engagement survey indicated 75% of respondents were fully engaged — the highest percentage recorded since we launched the survey in 2011. That amounts to a 33-percentage point increase since 2011, representing significant progress since the survey’s inception. The 2023 survey had an 82% response rate. Fully engaged employees are those who agree or strongly agree with all eight of the “overall company experience” questions asked on the survey.

In the December 2023 survey, we achieved broadly equivalent results compared to 2022 on important measures. We learned from respondents that:

• 98% are committed to delivering the best service to our end clients.
• 95% are committed to playing their part in achieving MSCI’s goals.
• 93% would recommend MSCI as a company to do business with.
• 91% are proud to work for MSCI.
• 88% would recommend MSCI as a place to work.

The 2023 December survey results show that the following themes correlate positively with engagement:

• Employees’ understanding of their contribution to the firm’s strategy
• Cross-team collaboration
• Development-related survey measures, reflecting the importance of our ongoing investment in providing customized learning and development opportunities
• Sense of belonging

We have built our strategies around three concepts:

• Our people: We strive to become a magnet for all talent, recognizing that different skills, perspectives and experiences can make us stronger and drive an innovative and high-performance culture.
• Our community: We have a deeply engaged global workforce. Our employee resource groups and inclusion localization teams drive opportunities to engage with the communities where we work, providing volunteer and community building initiatives for employees looking to build close connections with our colleagues and neighborhoods.
• Our leaders: Our leaders are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace and a culture of belonging, building collaborative teams grounded in meritocracy.

To learn more about inclusion at MSCI, visit our Inclusion and Belonging page.

Over the past several years, we have continued our performance and growth transformation to empower our people to maximize their potential. We pride ourselves on being bright, curious and passionate about what we do, with different ideas, experiences and personalities that encourage innovative thinking.

We are on a journey to work, learn and grow together while building must-have tools and solutions to help our clients better understand performance and risk, and achieve their financial goals.

Our distinct company culture sets us apart, celebrating and investing in the well-being of our people, whether a sustainability researcher in New York or a data scientist in Shanghai.

This quality is also evident in the way we attract and retain exceptional talent. Our Careers portal, developed to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA standard, hosts job postings that reflect our stance on inclusive hiring practices. Our recruitment process accounts for reasonable adjustments in line with candidate need and our mission to attract and retain high-level talent.

We believe that people thrive when they are fully accepted, supported and equipped to take charge of their futures. We foster creative thinkers and collaborators that fulfill MSCI’s goal to connect providers and seekers of capital to drive global prosperity.

To view current openings at MSCI, visit our Careers page.

All employees are eligible for annual cash bonuses. To determine an employee’s actual bonus, we measure results against employee goals. For managers, we evaluate the effectiveness of certain behaviors consistent with the firm’s values and culture.

Employees from the senior associate level and up are also eligible to participate in the MSCI Long-Term Incentive Program with the potential to be awarded MSCI stock that vests over a multi-year period. The program seeks to:

• Align interests of eligible employees with those of our shareholders.
• Enhance our “owner-operator” philosophy.
• Recognize and reward potential long-term contributions.
• Retain key leaders and top performing employees.

To learn more, visit our Careers page.

We offer a global Employee Assistance Program we call “Here For You” that provides employees and families with confidential 24/7 support, resources and information for personal and work-life issues at no cost. The resources and support are available in local languages, via both the web portal and mobile app. Participants can access on-line computerized cognitive behavioral therapy as well as counselors throughout the globe. It also includes:

• Confidential emotional support from highly trained clinicians to help with issues including anxiety, depression, stress, grief, loss and life adjustments, and relationship conflicts.
• Legal and financial guidance.
• Online support through articles, podcasts, videos, on-demand trainings and “Ask the Expert” personal responses to employee questions.
• Interactive behavioral health and self-care tools and resources including guided programs on addressing anxiety, chronic pain, mindfulness, sleep, stress and substance abuse, in addition to personalized resources on physical health conditions including diabetes, coronary disease and those related to smoking.
• Increased communications about employee assistance programs that provide mental health and emotional well-being support as well as resources to help manage stress and care for individuals and their families.

MSCI also offers:

• Same-sex domestic partner benefits.
• Quarterly distribution of well-being resources and webinars focused on various health topics.
• Enhanced parental leave policies that include a global minimum standard across the firm’s offices worldwide, meeting or exceeding local statutory requirements.
• Global defined contribution and/or defined benefit pension plans, many of which include generous employer contributions.
• Core and supplemental life insurance and disability coverage options.
• Family and community-based support programs, including childcare backup and both paid and unpaid time off leave policies.
• Voluntary plan options to help employees with personal services, home and other financial needs.
• An annual global “Fun Day” where employees receive a financial stipend and a paid day off to attend an off-site team building event.

MSCI provides:

• A global ergonomic program which includes education, assessments and equipment for all employees working in-office or remotely.
• Wellness rooms for all employees and rooms designated for nursing mothers in all office locations.
• Automated external defibrillators in offices firmwide and CPR training.
• Access to safety and security advice and emergency medical assistance 24/7 anywhere employees live or travel.
• Offices firmwide equipped with CCTV and access control.
• Regular security awareness training.

From 2020 to 2023, there were no workplace employee or contractor fatalities at any of our office locations.