Extended-lister

Filters
 

TAGS

Showing 101 - 157 of 157 entries

  1. BLOG

    Under the hood: Rating ESG funds 

    Jul 10, 2019 Michael Disabato

    ESG Research , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Nearly $31 trillion in assets under management were invested in funds that consider ESG issues in their investing process as of January 2018, a 34% increase from two years previously. Transparency is key to understanding what this expansion means.

  2. BLOG

    Asian retail resilience: Have store hours affected performance? 

    Jul 9, 2019 Bryan Reid

    Real Estate Investing , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Industrial real estate has outperformed retail assets in recent years, but the trend has been less pronounced in Asia, where store hours, among other reasons, might have led to more resilient retail performance.

  3. BLOG

    The rise of fundamental factors in China A shares 

    Jun 6, 2019 Oleg Ruban

    Emerging Markets , Factor Investing , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Commonly held perceptions about China A shares have influenced investors to think factor strategies may not work in the Chinese equity markets. Our research suggests this may be changing.

  4. BLOG

    What could stress emerging markets? 

    May 24, 2019 Thomas Verbraken

    Global Investing , Risk Management , Economic Exposure , Emerging Markets

    Learn More

    Emerging-market equities and USD-denominated EM sovereign bonds started 2019 with a bang, but recent market turbulence caused by the U.S.-China trade standoff raises a pressing question: What could trigger the next EM downturn?

  5. BLOG

    Beyond headlines: How markets responded to US-China trade talks 

    May 9, 2019 Zhen Wei

    Economic Exposure , Emerging Markets , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Our analysis suggests that changes in equity-market valuations, analysts’ consensus earnings estimates and data on companies’ revenue exposure are metrics that provided insight into recent market and sector performances.

  6. BLOG

    Game of Homes: Is winter coming for the domestic-equity bias? 

    Apr 30, 2019 Raman Aylur Subramanian , Anil Rao , Raman Subramanian

    Equity Themes , Models/Client Cases , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Can we quantify home-bias risk in an allocation? And, what has happened when U.S. stocks ended previous multiyear runs of outperformance?

  7. BLOG

    The Right Tool: How Suitable is Your Real Estate Benchmark? 

    Apr 11, 2019 Amit Nihalani

    Real Estate Investing , Global Investing

    Learn More

    You don’t have to be a master craftsman to appreciate the benefits of using the right tool for the job. Even the most casual do-it-yourselfer has experienced the frustration of using the wrong screwdriver for a particular job — one that doesn’t quite fit the screw properly and shreds the head, leaving it uselessly stuck in the wood without fixing anything.

  8. BLOG

    Evaluating the Impact of LIBOR Fallback 

    Apr 3, 2019 Maks Oks

    Fixed Income , Global Investing , Integrated Risk Management

    Learn More

    The planned discontinuation of LIBOR and other interbank offer rates sometime in 2022 will affect a large number of existing financial contracts based on these benchmarks.

  9. BLOG

    Factors in Focus: Risky start. Quality finish. 

    Apr 2, 2019 Waman Virgaonkar , Hitendra D Varsani

    Factors , Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    We highlight the fast-moving rotation among factors that continued during Q1 2019. As we move into Q2 2019, this framework showed allocation changes in different factors.

  10. BLOG

    Saudi Arabia inclusion and emerging markets 

    Mar 28, 2019 Saurabh Katiyar

    Equity Themes , Emerging Markets , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Saudi Arabian stocks will be included in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and the MSCI ACWI Index in a two-step process starting in June this year. With the first step of inclusion of the MSCI Saudi Arabian Index coming shortly, we ask how inclusion of this Middle Eastern market would have affected the MSCI EM Indexes.

  11. BLOG

    A New Day for Monetary Policy? 

    Mar 22, 2019 Andy Sparks

    Emerging Markets , Fixed Income , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Listen as MSCI’s Andy Sparks discusses potential implications of the US Federal Reserve’s sharply softening monetary policy, and whether the role of central banks has changed.

  12. BLOG

    Don’t confuse capital growth and asset-value growth 

    Mar 21, 2019 Niel Harmse

    Economic Exposure , Real Estate Investing , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Measuring real estate growth is not a simple exercise; we run through it highlighting some common confusions

  13. BLOG

    Watching Beta in Volatile Equity Markets 

    Mar 12, 2019 Anil Rao

    Equity Themes , Global Investing

    Learn More

    The U.S. equity market ended last year with a historic drawdown, and beta stood out as a driver of the market decline. But what happened when those losses starting reversing in early 2019?

  14. BLOG

    What innovative companies and women on boards have in common 

    Mar 8, 2019 Meggin Thwing Eastman , Meggin Eastman

    ESG Research , Global Investing

    Learn More

    We examined constituents of the MSCI ACWI Index that had been recognized as innovators on one or more annual lists produced by Forbes, Fast Company, MIT Sloan and the Boston Consulting Group between 2015 and 2018.

  15. BLOG

    Brexit, Black Wednesday and Real Estate's Currency Risk 

    Feb 25, 2019 Niel Harmse

    Real Estate Investing , Global Investing

    Learn More

    When investors buy overseas real estate, they inevitably take on foreign-exchange exposure. The resulting currency-market dislocations resulted in near-term losses for some investors, but also created attractive opportunities for investors to buy real estate exposure in the U.K.

  16. BLOG

    Evaluating Emerging-Market Stocks through a Governance Lens 

    Feb 21, 2019 Raina Oberoi , Anil Rao

    Equity Themes , Emerging Markets , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Emerging-market stocks generally are perceived to have lower governance standards than their developed-market counterparts. Less transparency is one factor behind this view. Some emerging-market companies may also disadvantage minority shareholders. How can active and index-based investors address these issues?

  17. BLOG

    Venezuela and the Specter of Recovery Risk 

    Feb 14, 2019 Manuel Rueda , Hamed Faquiryan

    Fixed Income , Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    Venezuela unfortunately finds itself on the verge of political and economic collapse. From the perspective of investors in the country’s sovereign and corporate bonds, recovery risk is now likely a bigger consideration than default risk.

  18. BLOG

    2019 Emerging Real Estate Trends 

    Feb 5, 2019 Will Robson

    ESG Research , Real Estate Investing , Global Investing

    Learn More

    For real estate investors, 2019 may be a year of adjusting to rapid changes arising from a variety of sources, including environmental, social and governance-related (ESG) risks; geopolitical uncertainty; and disruptive technology.

  19. BLOG

    What Would a “No deal” Brexit Mean for Markets? 

    Jan 17, 2019 Thomas Verbraken

    Global Investing , Integrated Risk Management

    Learn More

    Financial markets are increasingly edgy about prospects for the U.K. Parliament’s expected Dec. 11 vote on a Brexit deal with the European Union.

  20. BLOG

    Brexit and the Risks of Home Bias 

    Jan 11, 2019 Jean-Maurice Ladure

    Economic Exposure , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Every so often, a country can be hit by a negative event — a tidal wave, a terrorist attack, a political uproar.

  21. BLOG

    What it may mean for Japanese stocks if easy money ends 

    Nov 22, 2018 Naoya Nishimura

    Models/Client Cases , Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    Some observers are concerned that when the Bank of Japan (BOJ) eventually ends its ultra-easy monetary policy, it could hurt the Japanese stock market. Part of this concern stems from the fact that the BOJ’s unconventional monetary policy involves purchasing Japanese exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

  22. BLOG

    Small cap allocations may not be that straightforward 

    Nov 20, 2018 Abhishek Gupta

    Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    The low size factor, or the premium that has been historically realized by investing in smaller sized companies over longer time periods, forms an integral component of many institutional portfolios. However, investors can choose different ways to making a low size allocation.

  23. BLOG

    Sector investing in China 

    Nov 14, 2018 Anil Rao

    Emerging Markets , Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    As the China A shares market has evolved, investors have faced new choices. They can continue with broad allocations to the emerging markets (EM), choose slightly narrower allocations to China and other specific EM countries or consider targeted investments within China through a variety of means.

  24. BLOG

    Which Factors Mattered in China? 

    Nov 7, 2018 Oleg Ruban

    Models/Client Cases , Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    Chinese equity prices have hardly been music to investors’ ears so far in 2018. The MSCI China A Onshore IMI Index — the broadest MSCI A shares index designed to represent the performance of the overall A shares market — has declined more than 25% in local currency terms through Oct. 31, 2018. Were there factors in this market that outperformed?

  25. BLOG

    Apples vs. Oranges? Core vs. Opportunistic Real Estate Funds 

    Oct 25, 2018 Amit Nihalani

    Real Estate Investing , Risk Management , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Real estate investors sometimes treat core and opportunistic funds as if they were different asset classes. They are measured against different benchmarks and comparisons are limited by a lack of consistent data. But a comparison of the two shows that both core and opportunistic funds have similar return profiles — it’s the magnitude of their returns that has varied over time.

  26. BLOG

    How the low volatility factor has performed in China A shares 

    Oct 11, 2018 Zhen Wei

    Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    Which factors have performed best in the China A market, especially given its relatively high annualized market volatility? Is there too much risk to bear? We investigate the role that the minimum volatility factor has played.

  27. BLOG

    China A Shares: The Journey Continues 

    Oct 10, 2018 Chin Ping Chia

    Emerging Markets , Global Investing

    Learn More

    As China continues to open its capital markets to global investors and accessibility standards have improved, MSCI recently launched a consultation to explore increasing the weight of A shares in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Ultimately, we seek to reflect the full investable opportunity set — all of China accessible to global investors — in the benchmark, as we do in all MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes.

  28. BLOG

    Corporate Disclosure in a TCFD World 

    Sep 24, 2018 Laura Nishikawa

    ESG Research , Global Investing

    Learn More

    In June of 2017, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) released climate-related disclosure recommendations to companies and investors that included a framework for better company disclosure and a request for climate scenarios as part of that disclosure. But for investors looking to incorporate environmental risk into their process, there might be a pretty big catch: We mapped over 140 MSCI ESG Research climate-related data points to the TCFD framework and found a significant gap between what investors need to know under these recommendations and what companies are telling them.

  29. BLOG

    Global Real Estate: To Hedge, or Not to Hedge 

    Sep 12, 2018 Will Robson , Bryan Reid

    Real Estate Investing , Risk Management , Global Investing

    Learn More

    While not quite as profound as the Shakespearean original, it is still quite a tricky one for real estate investors to grapple with. Until fairly recently, it is one that has been avoided by the majority of real estate investors due to their heavy home bias. But the increasing global nature of the asset class, combined with rising currency volatility, means the question is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid.

  30. BLOG

    Does Turkey offer lessons for managing emerging-market currency volatility? 

    Aug 15, 2018 Raman Aylur Subramanian , Raman Subramanian

    Emerging Markets , Global Investing

    Learn More

    The recent 40% drop in the Turkish lira is part of a long-term trend of rising emerging-market currency volatility. Typically, investors do not hedge this exposure. Is it time to reconsider this approach?

  31. BLOG

    Is Japan’s “lost decade” Over? 

    Aug 14, 2018 Naoya Nishimura

    Equity Themes , Global Investing

    Learn More

    The Japanese equity market’s spectacular crash in the early 1990s is referred to as the “lost decade.” Recently, this period has been extended to include the decade that followed. Despite this, most Japanese investors continue to favor an outsized domestic equity allocation. This home bias has come with a huge opportunity cost. Since the end of 1987, the cumulative return of global stocks was over 1,400% in yen terms, while the cumulative return of Japanese stocks was only 49%.

  32. BLOG

    What happens if Italy leaves the EU? 

    Aug 6, 2018 Thomas Verbraken

    Models/Client Cases , Global Investing , Integrated Risk Management

    Learn More

    With populist policies on the rise, globally, many believe Italy’s coalition government could add to the EU’s challenges by pursuing populist strategies that could further disrupt both equity and bond markets. We consider two scenarios – a severe and mild one – with very different implications.

  33. BLOG

    Can investors win a U.S.-China trade war? 

    Jul 3, 2018 Anil Rao

    Equity Themes , Economic Exposure , Global Investing , Integrated Risk Management

    Learn More

    With new tariffs in effect as of July 6, we investigate our earlier assertion that “while an expanded trade war could lead to a ‘lose-lose’ outcome, there could be greater impact for stocks in the U.S. Overall, they are more exposed to the Chinese economy than the other way around.”

  34. BLOG

    Can Your Investment Strategy Work with China A Shares? 

    Jun 27, 2018 Zhen Wei

    Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    Many institutional investors have long viewed China A shares as an inefficient market, suggesting that active strategies such as stock-picking can thrive. However, researching a universe of over 3,500 stocks comes with huge challenges, and may lead investors to question whether factor-based systematic strategies could have worked well with China A shares.

  35. BLOG

    International small caps are alive and kicking 

    Jun 11, 2018 Anil Rao

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    Investors eager to write the obituary of the size premium might want to put down their pens. Small-cap stocks in developed markets outside the U.S. have been on a decade-long run of outpacing their large- and mid-cap counterparts.

  36. BLOG

    The World Comes to China 

    May 23, 2018 Chin Ping Chia

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    Emerging markets may never be the same. On May 31, MSCI will include about 233 China large-cap A shares to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Inclusion at a 5% initial weight could lead to approximately USD 22 billion of capital inflows into these stocks. What might investors need to consider as we approach this milestone?

  37. BLOG

    Why index funds promote market efficiency 

    Apr 26, 2018 Dimitris Melas

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    Institutions and individuals increasingly invest through funds that track indexes. While index funds bring transparency and low cost, their critics claim that they allocate capital indiscriminately, hurting market efficiency. Is this claim supported by the evidence? It is not. Our analysis shows that, far from damaging market efficiency, index funds1 facilitate active portfolio management by offering investors diverse and efficient tools to express investment views and implement active investment decisions.

  38. BLOG

    Winners and Losers of a U.S.-China Trade War 

    Apr 17, 2018 Zhen Wei

    Economic Exposure , Factor Indexes , Global Investing

    Learn More

    The question of who wins or loses a U.S.-China trade war has more than two possible answers. While much of the analysis has focused on China’s heavier reliance on exports to the U.S., American companies (and those who invest in them) actually have greater revenue exposure to China than the other way around. In fact, 5.1% of the revenues of companies in the MSCI USA Index come from China and may be at risk as a result of a trade war. In comparison, only 2.8% of the revenues of the companies in the MSCI China Index come from the U.S.

  39. BLOG

    Putting the spotlight on Spotify: Why have stocks with unequal voting rights outperformed? 

    Apr 3, 2018 Dimitris Melas

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    Nearly 15 years after Google’s initial public offering, the debate about listed companies that offer unequal voting rights to outside investors rages on. A number of high-profile technology companies including Dropbox Inc., Spotify and Snap Inc. have recently listed shares with unequal voting rights, adding fuel to the debate. Meanwhile, investors are trying to determine if they should shun the stock issued by these companies or include them in equity portfolios.

  40. BLOG

    Does the market contain too much Facebook? 

    Mar 29, 2018 Roman Kouzmenko

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    Facebook’s privacy issues, Apple’s European tax woes and Amazon’s global ambitions are constantly in the news. And over the last few years, large U.S. technology companies, sometimes known as FAANG, have made up larger slices of the global equity market. Should their level of market concentration concern investors?

  41. BLOG

    Why are Small Caps Different? 

    Sep 18, 2017 Raina Oberoi

    Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    A lot has been written about the persistence of the global small-cap premium. But what, apart from size, distinguishes small-cap stocks from their large- and mid-cap counterparts, and how can these distinctions help institutional investors?

  42. BLOG

    Global small-cap fund capacity: no small matter 

    Jun 15, 2017 Raina Oberoi

    Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    In recent years, pension funds around the world increasingly have shed their home bias and made global small-cap allocations.

  43. BLOG

    Why global small-cap stocks are becoming an important part of institutional portfolios 

    Mar 16, 2017 Raina Oberoi

    Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    Institutional investors worldwide traditionally have tended to focus on the stocks of larger companies, finding them less risky, more liquid and offering greater investment capacity than small-cap stocks. But asset owners and managers increasingly are allocating strategically to the small-cap equity segment as part of their global equity portfolios i.e., via an “all-cap” approach.

  44. BLOG

    How to Integrate ESG Without Sacrificing Diversification 

    Feb 8, 2017 Laura Nishikawa

    ESG Research , Global Investing

    Learn More

    As institutional equity investors increasingly think about the long term, they may adjust their portfolios to accommodate environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns in their investment decision-making processes. That can be particularly challenging for the largest investors, such as pension funds and endowments, whose portfolios span the entire equity market.

  45. BLOG

    A Look at MSCI’s Emerging Markets Index and China A-shares 

    Oct 24, 2016 Chin Ping Chia

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    During our consultations on whether to add China A-shares to MSCI’s Emerging Markets Index, some institutional investors asked what full inclusion might mean for the index and the asset class. Given China’s already-significant weight in the index, would the addition of shares of local Chinese companies, even if years away, reduce diversification of the index and render the asset class irrelevant?

  46. BLOG

    How Low Interest Rates May Impact your Portfolio 

    Oct 6, 2016 Carlo Acerbi

    Risk Management , Global Investing , Integrated Risk Management

    Learn More

    Slow growth and a shortage of safe assets have led major central banks to maintain monetary policies that include short-term interest rates near or below zero. The policies, which aim to encourage businesses and consumers to borrow and spend, have lowered bond yields, distorted yield curves, shifted the composition of central banks’ balance sheets toward riskier assets and sent savers in search of yield. The persistence of low growth and a lack of inflation also have led investors to wonder whether such policies still pack any punch.

  47. BLOG

    Insight into the emerging markets rally 

    Sep 27, 2016 Raman Aylur Subramanian

    Emerging Markets , Global Investing

    Learn More

    Apart from a recent swoon spurred by fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise rates, it has been a summer of love for investment in emerging markets.

  48. BLOG

    How to think bigger about small cap investing 

    Jul 15, 2016 Raman Aylur Subramanian

    Global Investing , Factor Investing

    Learn More

    Investors who allocate to small-cap stocks can use either a benchmark weighted according to the market value of companies that constitute it or indexes that track the performance of factors such as size. But all small-cap indexes are not the same.

  49. BLOG

    The Shrinking Cost of Currency Hedging 

    Jun 21, 2016 Chin Ping Chia

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    It may be time for institutional investors to rethink whether to hedge their exposures to foreign currencies. Though hedging can help investors avoid losing money amid swings in the foreign-exchange market, the strategy can be an expensive one for investors based in countries with structurally low interest rates.

  50. BLOG

    What Matters for Investors in the Long Run 

    May 17, 2016 Remy Briand

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    Investors who aim to understand what drives returns over the long run might look to the Land of the Midnight Sun.

  51. BLOG

    Should you Hedge your Foreign Currency Exposure? 

    Apr 5, 2016 Remy Briand

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    The volatility of currency has increased in recent years as a combination of quantitative easing and currency wars fuel swings in the foreign-exchange market.

  52. BLOG

    Unpacking the Volatility so Far 

    Feb 18, 2016 Dimitris Melas

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    The year that began in January stands out for the uncertainty that has rocked the global economy. The search for growth, the prospect of deflation and a slowdown in China have combined to roil financial markets and challenge asset owners and managers worldwide

  53. BLOG

    Global Equity Allocation: A New Paradigm Developing 

    Apr 29, 2015 Remy Briand

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    Maintaining a “home bias” in the equity portfolio may come with huge opportunity costs. In a 2012 study MSCI prepared for Norway’s Ministry of Finance, we examined...

  54. BLOG

    China A-Shares: Too Big to Ignore 

    Feb 11, 2015 Chin Ping Chia

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    China A-Shares are too big to be ignored but remain difficult for many institutional investors to access. How can global investors avoid a stock market that is now the world’s third-largest, with a total market value of nearly USD 4 trillion, putting it just behind the United States and Japan?

  55. BLOG

    Small Caps - No Small Oversight 

    Dec 9, 2014 Raman Aylur Subramanian

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    Many institutional investors recognize that their reference universe should include large-, mid- and small-cap equities and that smaller companies should earn a risk premium over larger ones. In practice, however, many of these investors - particularly in Europe and Asia - underweight the small-cap segment.

  56. BLOG

    Some Like it Hot: Very Active Mandates in a Core-Satellite Structure 

    Nov 24, 2014 Raman Aylur Subramanian

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    Investors have long debated the benefits of active versus passive investing. There are institutional investors with strong convictions in each camp, but many have become increasingly pragmatic, combining active and passive mandates in pursuit of the best risk-adjusted return.

  57. BLOG

    The Next Generation of Global Investors 

    Jan 21, 2014 Chin Ping Chia

    Global Investing

    Learn More

    We’ve observed that many institutional investors have abandoned their historical domestic-equity bias and now view global equities as a single, broad asset class. In high-growth economies, however, particularly in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America, many investors remain focused primarily on domestic stocks.

Showing 101 - 157 of 157 entries