MTN Nigeria Joins MSCI Frontier Markets Index

By Dipo Olowookere

Leading provider of research-based indexes and analytics, Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), has announced the results of the August 2019 Quarterly Index Review for the MSCI Equity Indexes.

These indexes include the MSCI Global Standard, MSCI Global Small Cap and MSCI Micro Cap Indexes, the MSCI Global Value and Growth Indexes and the MSCI Frontier Markets and MSCI Frontier Markets Small Cap Indexes.

Others are the MSCI Frontier Emerging Markets Index, the MSCI Global Islamic and MSCI Global Islamic Small Cap Indexes, the MSCI Pan-Euro and MSCI Euro Indexes, the MSCI US Equity Indexes, the MSCI US REIT Index, the MSCI China A Onshore indexes and the MSCI China All Shares Indexes.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the agency said for the MSCI Frontier Markets Indexes, there would be no deletions, but an addition, which is MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, a company, which commenced trading of its shares on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in May 2019.

The statement also said the inclusion of the MSCI Saudi Arabia Indexes in Emerging Markets coincided with this Index Review, the second and final step of the inclusion of the MSCI Saudi Arabia Index, which will increase the weight of Saudi Arabian securities from 1.45 percent to 2.83 percent in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, will be implemented.

Under the MSCI Global Standard Indexes, 15 securities would be added to and four securities will be deleted from the MSCI ACWI Index. In the MSCI World Index, the three largest additions measured by full company market capitalization will be Roku A (USA), Sarepta Therapeutics (USA) and Air Canada VV (Canada).

The three largest additions to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index measured by full company market capitalization will be Haidilao International Holding (China), China Rail Group A (HK-C) (China) and Wanhua Chemical Group A (HK-C) (China).

It was further disclosed that there will be four additions to and 11 deletions from the MSCI ACWI Small Cap Index.

According to the statement issued by MSCI, all the changes would be implemented as of the close of Tuesday, August 27, 2019.