MSCI expands ESG research to cover fixed income

Index and investment research provider MSCI has added fixed income to the coverage of its research into environmental, social and governance (ESG) tools, to help investors in fixed income integrate ESG factors in their investment process, and measure ESG risk exposure in their portfolios.

MSCI said its ESG research tools will cover over 90% of the Barclays Global Aggregate Bond Index, comprising 260,000 individual securities from 9,000 issuers. MSCI managing director and global head of index and ESG research, Remy Briand, said: “Fixed income is a major part of investors’ holdings across the world, and there is a growing demand for tools that will enable asset owners and asset managers to integrate ESG across asset classes.” Earlier this year MSCI collaborated with Barclays to launch a family of co-branded ESG fixed income indices.

In a separate move, MSCI announced that it has recruited Chris Ryan as head of Asia Pacific. He was previously chief executive officer at Australian fund manager Perpetual, and prior to that had other senior asset management roles in the region. MSCI chairman and chief executive officer, Henry Fernandez, said: “Chris is a 30- year veteran of the asset management industry in Asia Pacific, having held senior positions at some of the leading investment firms in the region. His experience and knowledge of these businesses, as well as his proven ability to manage diverse teams across Asia Pacific, made him the perfect candidate for this new role.”