Investor News

MSCI Announces Strategic Alliance With Menai Financial Group

Jan 18, 2022 at 8:04 AM EST

Menai to provide advice to MSCI in connection with its development of digital asset solutions for institutional investors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2022-- MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, announced today its collaboration with Menai Financial Group (“Menai”), a leading provider of institutional-grade digital asset investment products and trading services. This strategic alliance marks one of MSCI’s first collaborations in the digital asset space. MSCI will aim to develop innovative tools for institutional investors seeking to capitalize on the growth of blockchain technology and digital assets.

The collaboration between MSCI and Menai comes at a time when institutional investors are increasingly considering opportunities within the digital asset class. As investor interest grows, MSCI has recognized the demand for robust frameworks and analytical tools to help provide insights into performance, risk and classification within this emerging asset class.

Menai’s expertise in digital assets will support MSCI’s development of the solutions institutional investors can leverage to navigate this market, understand the risks and challenges, and capitalize on emerging opportunities and developments as the rapidly growing industry drives technological change. This collaboration will aim to help institutional investors identify and understand the investment universe for digital assets and the relationship between digital assets and traditional assets.

Henry Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of MSCI, said: “Digital assets often get conflated with cryptocurrencies, but the market is far larger than that. Applications associated with digital assets are transforming long-established technologies such as payment, trading and settlement systems, among others. While investors are eager to enter the digital asset market as it matures, there is need for a robust suite of tools to gain reliable insight into the space.

“We are excited to fill that gap in collaboration with Menai and develop what is needed to power investment decisions in this evolving space. At MSCI, we are committed to capturing market disruptions—like digital assets—and helping our clients better understand their exposure to related trends as they construct portfolios with an eye towards forces shaping our future.”

Zoe Cruz, Founder and CEO of Menai Financial Group, said: “Institutional players are keen to participate in the digital asset markets, but have historically struggled to find the means to do so in a way that meets the high standards of professionalism, scale, risk management, security and rigor required by traditional financial markets. We are thrilled to see a sophisticated, norm-setting player like MSCI enter the digital asset space and are honoured that they have chosen Menai as one of their partners in this endeavour. We look forward to working together with MSCI as it provides institutional investors with transparent, secure and efficient solutions to help navigate the digital assets space.”

About MSCI Inc.

MSCI is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 50 years of expertise in research, data, and technology, we power better investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. We create industry-leading research-enhanced solutions that clients use to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or performance and involve risks that may cause actual results or performance differ materially and you should not place undue reliance on them. Risks that could affect results or performance are in MSCI’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year ended on December 31 that is filed with the SEC. MSCI does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements. No information herein constitutes investment advice or should be relied on as such. MSCI grants no right or license to use its products or services without an appropriate license. MSCI MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR OTHERWISE WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION HEREIN AND DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

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Source: MSCI Inc.