MSCI Inc.

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MSCI Barra
Type	Public: NYSE: MXB
Founded	1970
Headquarters	New York City
Key people	Henry A. Fernandez, CEO, Michael K. Neborak, CFO, David C. Brierwood, COO
Services	stock market indices portfolio analytics
Revenue	$370 million (2007) ^[1]
Operating income	$129 million (2007)^[1]
Net income	$81 million (2007)^[1]
Employees	700 (2007)^[1]
Parent	Morgan Stanley
Divisions	MSCI Barra
Website	www.MSCIBarra.com

MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MXB), trading as MSCI Barra, is a provider of equity, fixed income, and hedge fund indices, and equity portfolio analysis tools. In 2004 Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) acquired Barra, Inc., to form MSCI Barra. The company is headquartered in New York City, with operations in Geneva, London, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Paris, Tokyo, São Paulo, Dubai, Sydney, Frankfurt, Milan, Berkeley and San Francisco.

Morgan Stanley is the majority shareholder of MSCI Barra, and The Capital Group Companies is a minority shareholder.

The MSCI international and global equity indices have been calculated since 1970. The company's most known indices include MSCI World and MSCI EAFE. MSCI indices are widely used as the benchmark indices by which the performance of international equity portfolios are measured. They are also used as the basis of passive investment products like index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Morgan Stanley sponsored the first iShares ETFs, known at launch as WEBS, which are designed to track various MSCI indices. ^[2]

In mid-2007, parent company Morgan Stanley announced plans to divest from, and potentially spin-off, MSCI.^[3] This was followed by an initial public offering of a minority of stock in November 2007. ^[4]