What is MSCI?
Indexes, analytics, ESG/climate, private-assets data, and portfolio risk tools for global investors.
- Category
- Financial information services
- Headquarters
- New York, NY
- Founded
- 1969
- Employees
- About 6,000
- Total funding
- Public company; no current VC funding
- Status
- NYSE: MSCI public company
What is MSCI?
MSCI is is a global provider of equity indexes, portfolio analytics, risk models, ESG/climate data, private-assets data, and investment-decision tools.
MSCI is a New York-based public financial information company best known for MSCI indexes used by asset managers, ETF issuers, asset owners, wealth platforms, and risk teams. Its current scale signal is 2025 operating revenue of about $3.1B; Q1 2026 revenue of $850.8M; the company reports about About 6,000 employees and operates from New York, NY. The core customer or audience base spans asset managers, ETF issuers, asset owners, hedge funds, wealth platforms, banks, risk teams, and sustainability professionals, and the business matters because it combines durable brands, data, software, creative talent, content, or marketplace distribution at public-company scale.
The operating model centers on index licensing, asset-based fees tied to ETF and fund assets, recurring analytics subscriptions, ESG/climate data, private-assets data, and risk models. That gives MSCI multiple buying centers: corporate technology and data, finance, procurement, security, marketing or audience growth, product engineering, and business-unit owners closest to revenue. For sellers, the highest-quality entry point is a business case tied to measurable growth, margin, workflow speed, customer experience, safety, rights management, or risk reduction.
As of June 2026, this profile should be read as a public-company account dossier rather than a startup page. Figures are drawn from recent investor releases, annual reports, official leadership pages, SEC filings or company materials, and public technology signals from careers, engineering content, BuiltWith, StackShare, or equivalent public sources.
What does MSCI offer?
MSCI offers MSCI indexes, Barra and RiskMetrics analytics, ESG and climate products, Real Assets data, Private Capital Solutions, and portfolio construction tools.
- MSCI Indexes· Indexes
- Barra· Risk analytics
- RiskMetrics· Risk analytics
- MSCI ESG Research· ESG
- Climate Lab· Climate
- Real Assets· Private assets
- Private Capital Solutions· Private markets
- Portfolio Manager· Workflow
How does MSCI make money?
MSCI monetizes through recurring subscriptions, index licensing, asset-based fees, analytics modules, ESG/climate data, private-assets data, and professional services.
MSCI makes money through recurring subscriptions, index licensing, asset-based fees, analytics modules, ESG/climate data, private-assets data, and professional services. Pricing is not a single self-serve SaaS sheet: enterprise subscriptions and index licenses are negotiated by product, AUM linkage, data rights, modules, and use case rather than public list pricing. The practical unit economics are driven by revenue per client, subscriber, user, campaign, license, catalog asset, booking, or advertising impression depending on the segment.
Growth depends on ETF AUM linked to MSCI indexes, analytics retention, ESG/climate demand, private-assets data, wealth adoption, and recurring subscription run-rate growth. Public filings and investor materials are the best source for margin, retention, volume, subscription, bookings, audience, and cash-flow signals because many enterprise contracts are bespoke.
Seller signal: a strong pitch should be mapped to the economics management already reports. That usually means proving higher monetization, faster production, better AI/data leverage, lower cloud or content cost, stronger compliance, improved sales productivity, or lower operational risk.
Who leads MSCI?
MSCI is led by Henry A. Fernandez with senior executives across finance, technology, product, operations, and business-unit performance.
- Henry A. FernandezChairman and Chief Executive OfficerCEO since 1998Long-tenured leader of MSCI independence, index growth, and analytics expansion.
- Baer PettitPresident and Chief Operating OfficerPresident/COOOversees global operations and product execution.
- Andy WiechmannChief Financial OfficerCFOLeads finance, investor relations, and capital allocation.
- Jigar ThakkarChief Technology OfficerTechnology executiveLeads technology platforms and data infrastructure.
How do you contact MSCI's leadership?
MSCI publishes official investor, media, partner, support, or corporate contact routes, but this profile does not treat guessed personal executive emails as verified. Use the public route below or route through procurement, investor relations, media relations, or the relevant business-unit contact page.
investor.relations@msci.com is a published company contact; personal executive format not verifiedHow much funding has MSCI raised?
MSCI is NYSE: MSCI public company; it is not a current venture-backed private company.
MSCI is a mature public company, so its capital profile is not a venture-funding round history. The relevant funding signal is NYSE: MSCI public company, recent revenue of 2025 operating revenue of about $3.1B; Q1 2026 revenue of $850.8M, public debt/equity access, cash generation, acquisitions, dividends or buybacks, and the operating budget controlled by its business units.
For procurement and sales planning, that means capacity exists when a project maps to revenue growth, margin improvement, audience or customer retention, AI/data strategy, compliance, security, or workflow efficiency. Expect formal sourcing, legal, privacy, finance, security, and business-owner review rather than startup-style founder purchasing.
The major capital milestones are listed in the timeline rather than as seed or Series rounds: founding or spin-off, public listing or direct listing, major mergers or acquisitions, recent restructuring, and current public-market status.
How did MSCI get here?
MSCI's current position reflects founding, public-market, acquisition, product, and AI/data milestones.
- 1969MSCI indexes launchedCapital International developed indexes that later became MSCI.
- 1986Morgan Stanley licensingMorgan Stanley licensed and expanded the index business.
- 2007IPOMSCI became a public company.
- 2010RiskMetrics acquisitionMSCI acquired RiskMetrics to expand risk analytics.
- 2020sESG/climate and private assetsMSCI expanded ESG, climate, real assets, and private markets.
- 2026Q1 2026 growthMSCI reported 14.1% operating revenue growth in Q1 2026.
Who are MSCI's competitors?
MSCI competes with public companies and scaled private platforms across undefined.
- S&P GlobalIndex, ratings, data, and market-intelligence competitor.
- LSEGFTSE Russell indexes and financial data/analytics competitor.
- MorningstarIndexes, research, data, and wealth-platform competitor.
- BloombergFinancial data, indexes, analytics, and terminal competitor.
- FactSetInvestment analytics, data, and workstation competitor.
MSCI — frequently asked questions
