The MSCI India index is designed to measure the performance of the largecap and midcap segments of the Indian market
MSCI India is due for a half-yearly review for MSCI India on May 13. According to ICICIdirect report, likely inclusions in the latest rejig could be from banking and insurance space such as RBL Bank, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, and HDFC Life Insurance.
The official announcement on the changes will be made on May 13. All changes will be applicable from May 29.
The MSCI India index is designed to measure the performance of the largecap and midcap segments of the Indian market.
The index is reviewed quarterly — in February, May, August, and November— with the objective of reflecting a change in the underlying equity markets in a timely manner, while limiting undue index turnover.
During the May and November semi-annual index reviews, the index is rebalanced and the large and mid capitalisation cutoff points are recalculated.
Currently, with 80 constituents, the index covers ~85 percent of the Indian equity universe. Sectorally, financial services have the highest weight in the index followed by technology.
Top 10 constituents of MSCI index include Reliance Industries, HDFC, Infosys, TCS, Axis Bank, HUL, ITC, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki and L&T.
The eligibility of stock for inclusion in the index is based on the MSCI Global investable indices methodology. “This methodology aims to provide exhaustive coverage of the relevant investment opportunity set with a strong emphasis on index liquidity, investability, and replicability,” said the report.
MSCI global equity indices have been in existence since 1969. These indices are widely used as the benchmark for global equity portfolios. Various investment products like index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) follow these indices.
One of the major followers of the MSCI India index is iShares MSCI India ETF, which has net assets of almost $5.05 billion as on May 5, 2019. “Apart from iShares, there are many other funds globally that follow the MSCI India index for their India centric exposure,” added the ICICIdirect report.
