On February 14, 2017 Chief Investment Officer reported that MSCI has launched an index series that will assist institutional investors in integrating ESG considerations into their investment process.
“The MSCI ESG universal indexes aim to help such large investors be more inclusionary and universal in their approach to ESG investing, so that they have a broader universe of equity investments to draw from without giving up their ESG focus. These indices will move away from a market capitalization weighting for equities to one that takes stock of their ESG profile so as to better weigh ESG performance.”
According to MSCI, “(t)he new MSCI ESG Universal Indexes aim to address the needs of asset owners who may look to enhance their exposure to ESG while maintaining a broad and diversified investment universe. The underlying product paper examines the index’s methodology for ESG tilting, designed to target companies demonstrating both a robust ESG profile and a positive ESG trend while maintaining minimal exclusions.”
You may read the article on the Chief Investment Officer internet site.