MSCI Barra

Q:
What is the backgound of MSCI and Barra?

A:
MSCI Barra provides a broad family of products and services that support our clients' investment processes in major asset classes worldwide. Our goal is to leverage our deep understanding of the world's financial markets to turn data-driven insights into tools that our clients can use to meet their investment process needs.

MSCI and Barra joined together in 2004 when MSCI acquired Barra to create a combined family of companies. Together, we continue to meet increasingly complex client needs, create groundbreaking new products, and offer superior global distribution and support.

Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (MSCI) calculates over 80,000 equity, fixed income, multi-asset class, REIT and hedge fund indices, in the aggregate. Since MSCI global equity benchmarks were first launched over 35 years ago, assets benchmarked to MSCI indices have grown to an estimated USD 3 trillion. In addition to benchmarking and performance measurement, MSCI indices are increasingly being integrated into other areas of our clients' investment processes such as research and asset allocation, and used as the basis of derivative products.

Barra, Inc. (Barra) sets the industry standard in financial risk management for the world's largest asset management firms. Since its inception in 1975, Barra has worked to build and continuously improve financial models and analytics that provide insight into the risks behind investment decisions.

Our market-leading brands are trusted by the world's foremost investment organizations:

MSCI Benchmarks: used by 22 of largest 25 firms managing assets globally
Barra Risk Products: used by 23 of largest 25 firms managing assets globally

MSCI Barra is headquartered in New York, with research and commercial offices around the world. Morgan Stanley, a global financial services firm and a market leader in securities, asset management, and credit services, is the majority shareholder of MSCI Barra, and Capital Group International, Inc. is the minority shareholder.