Global index funds are likely to benefit from measures by MSCI Inc. and FTSE Russell to increase their benchmarks’ exposure to China A shares, Moody’s Investors Service announced Thursday.
FTSE Russell will start including eligible small-, mid- and large-cap companies in its global indices, Moody’s says.
In addition, MSCI will phase in stocks from ChiNext, in 2019a tech-heavy board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and China-A mid-cap securities in May 2020.
The expanded inclusion of Chinese stocks in the global indices will boost inflows into passively managed funds, Moody’s says. These funds will benefit from increased diversification due to greater exposure to China, although questions remain about corporate governance in the country.
“Greater index exposure to Chinese equities will impact global capital inflows into China’s A-shares, especially given rising global adoption of low-cost passive index funds,” says Sydney Kyne, analyst with Moody’s, in a statement. “Over US$13.9 trillion of investor capital is linked to MSCI indices worldwide, with over US$1.9 trillion assets benchmarked to their EM index suite alone.”