MSCI Inc, a specialist provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, has launched a new suite of China thematic indexes designed to help investors capitalise on the long-term, structural changes in China which may drive performance in a rapidly changing world.
The 20 new indexes span across three identified megatrend categories which are widely expected to significantly impact the economies and societies around the world in the future, including transformative technologies, society and lifestyle, and environment and resources.
Stephane Mattatia, Global Head of Derivatives Licensing and Thematic Indexes at MSCI, says: “We have identified long-term structural trends that are expected to transform global economies, drive innovation and redefine business models. They have significant growth potential and are increasingly important drivers of earnings and equity returns. Unlike traditional, backward-looking investment approaches that focus on past winners, thematic investing reflects a future world that may be very different from the past.”
China has enjoyed high levels of economic growth during the past 40 years and is set to contribute 19 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2024. Its economy continued to grow under the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and is expected to be leading world growth in 2021. As the Chinese government has laid out its 14th Five-Year Plan focused on key megatrends driving domestic growth, investor demand for exposure to these opportunities is on the rise.
“Since the launch of our flagship MSCI China and MSCI China A Indexes, we continue to develop innovative index solutions to help investors capture China’s growth potential in their portfolios,” says Doug Walls, APAC Head of Index Products at MSCI. “Using MSCI’s global thematic framework and flexible and scalable rules-based methodology, we have identified 10 trends fuelling China’s economic growth and constructed the China Thematic Indexes to help investors capitalize on opportunities created by these macroeconomic, technological and demographic trends that are both structural and transformative in nature.”