Perspectives

After 15 years of near-uninterrupted growth, private markets are facing something they haven't faced before: a real test. In this episode, recorded on the sidelines of the inaugural MSCI Private Assets Summit, host Adam Bass speaks with leaders across private credit, private equity and real estate about what's driving stress across the asset class and what comes next. Featuring MSCI's Ashley Leste...

As global markets undergo a turbulent re-rating, institutional investors are rethinking their hedging tools. In this episode, MSCI's Vasileios Koutsoulis, NYSE's Brian Gilbart and NEOS Investments' Wes Matthews discuss the growing ecosystem for MSCI EM and EAFE Index options now trading at NYSE. They cover why the building-block structure of MSCI indexes were selected for liquid derivatives market...

In a quarter defined by converging shocks — Middle East conflict, AI's “SaaSpocalypse” and private credit stress — MSCI's Ashley Lester and Axel Kilian explore what markets are pricing in and where investors may want to focus.

ETFs have transformed fixed income — but the story now is shifting toward active. MSCI's Jarrad Lindsey and Jim Jackson of Victory Income Investors dig into why active fixed income ETFs are capturing a growing share of new flows, what "active" actually means in a bond portfolio, and where product innovation is headed. A sharp, practical conversation for anyone serious about fixed income.

History, it turns out, has a lot to say about what's happening today. Fifty years of market history meets today's most pressing investment questions. Kristy Akullian from BlackRock and MSCI's Christine Berg and Abhishek Gupta explore market concentration, the unwinding of home bias, the practical power of factors and the hidden risks buried in global supply chains - and what history tells us about...

From geopolitical uncertainty to tariff shocks , investment teams are under pressure to move faster than ever. In this episode, MSCI's Hitendra Varsani and Andrew DeMond examine how AI is compressing workflows from weeks to minutes — and what CIOs and CROs need to consider as they navigate this new landscape.

As he prepares to retire, MSCI President Baer Pettit reflects on 25 years of profound market change - from the rise of indexation and ETFs to globalization, private markets and AI - and considers how these structural shifts may shape portfolios and investor decision-making in the years ahead.

What happens when diversification stops working? As correlations shift and traditional assumptions break down, investors are turning to scenario analysis and stress testing. Thomas Verbraken and Monika Szikszai explain how these tools can help uncover vulnerabilities and prepare portfolios for "Triple-Red" market environments.

As sustainability grows noisier and more politicized, investors are being forced to look past the headlines and focus on fundamentals. Laura Nishikawa, Head of Emerging Risks R&D at MSCI, and Jenn-Hui Tan, Chief Sustainability Officer at Fidelity International, discuss the economic signals, climate risk and investor decisions shaping the transition.

Ashley Lester, chief research and development officer, and Axel Kilian, chief client officer, examine a pivotal moment for markets entering 2026. Drawing on MSCI's research, they explore geopolitics, institutional uncertainty, AI investment at scale, market concentration and infrastructure, focusing on the market signals investors should watch.

Markets are evolving faster than ever - uncertainty is rising, portfolios are becoming more complex and AI is reshaping how investment decisions are made. We bring together sharp insights from global investment and risk leaders on navigating today's shifting landscape: from new market dynamics and emerging risks to the growing move toward total-portfolio thinking. Whether you manage portfolios, ad...

How do you track private equity returns in a liquid, transparent form? Experts from MSCI and Goldman Sachs Asset Management discuss how data and analytics came together with deep industry insights to build the MSCI World Private Equity Return Tracker Index and GSAM's associated ETF.

The great wealth transition has arrived, and with it comes a new client base for wealth managers who demand personalization, tech-driven solutions and portfolios that reflect their values. April Rudin of The Rudin Group, join our own Govinda Quish and Dimtris Melas walk us through these shifts, along with a side trip into the global economic and market environment in which they exist.

The great wealth transition has arrived, and with it comes a new client base for wealth managers who demand personalization, tech-driven solutions and portfolios that reflect their values. April Rudin of The Rudin Group, join our own Govinda Quish and Dimtris Melas walk us through these shifts, along with a side trip into the global economic and market environment in which they exist.

Globally, investors are rethinking the "pie chart" of traditional asset allocation. Many are adopting the total portfolio approach (TPA) - a holistic way of assessing how every investment contributes to the risk and return of the entire portfolio. In this episode, Oleg Ruban, MSCI's Head of APAC Research, and Ian Patrick, Chief Investment Officer of Australian Retirement Trust, discuss how that sh...

The world's most innovative companies - leaders in AI, fintech, space tech and beyond - are staying private longer and growing bigger before going public. That means much of today's growth story is unfolding out of reach for many investors. In this episode MSCI's Mehdi Alighanbari, Caplight's Javier Avalos and Derek Yan of KraneShares discuss the fast-growing market for venture-backed private comp...

After years of U.S. market dominance, the tide may be turning. MSCI's Ashley Lester and Axel Kilian reveal what they're hearing from global investors—from rising interest in Europe and Asia to growing concerns about currency risk and private equity liquidity. This mid-year check-in offers timely insights into how capital may be repositioning for what's next.

After holding on and repeating the mantra, "stay alive until 2025," six months into the new year, commercial real estate investors find themselves anxious about the way forward. But are there actual signs of distress? Our panel of real estate experts explain.

Questions abound around inflation, interest rates, trade disruption - and beneath it all, fixed-income and derivatives markets adapting at speed. With Treasury auctions stirring unease and a dramatic shift in how global investors are positioning, it's no surprise that bonds and derivatives are back in focus. But the questions are bigger than just "what and where to buy." They're about what tools t...

Luke Flemmer, MSCI's head of private assets, provides his views on how the industry, tools and participants stand to evolve as the worlds of public and private investing converge and more investors adopt a total portfolio approach.

Though many of the headlines follow every twist and turn that equities have taken over the last month, fixed income remains an important part of the story. From drivers of inflation to the relative strength of the U.S. dollar and the rise of private credit as a funding source for corporate America, understanding the shifting dynamics is key as investors plot their next move.

As the year started, the overriding theme was the dominance of the U.S. in the world's financial markets. However, there were already some uncertainties on the horizon. Three months later we have seen quite astounding action on both the policy front and in financial markets. MSCI's roundtable of experts provide their unique perspective on it all.

25 years on from the peak of the dot-com bubble, we discuss parallels between today's AI-driven market boom and the dot-com era with MSCI's Donald Sze, exploring market sentiment, lessons from history and implications for investors navigating current dynamics.

Trade tensions are rising - what does this mean for investors? MSCI's Abhishek Gupta and Thomas Verbraken discuss the latest tariff developments, their potential impact on inflation and interest rates and how they could reshape market dynamics in 2025 and beyond.

Real estate is resetting - but not everywhere and not all at once. Tom Leahy and Ben Chow, the EMEA and APAC heads of real-estate research at MSCI, unpack 2025's key trends, from interest rates to AI-driven demand, and discuss why strategy, timing and resilience could be important drivers going forward.