Intro - ESG Indexes

Our ESG index story begins in 1990, with the launch of the Domini 400 Social Index — now the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index — as one of the first socially responsible investing indexes. Since then, we have enhanced our ESG index capability to reflect the evolving needs of our investors.

We have learned over that time that investors have a wide range of motivations for seeking ESG strategies. At MSCI, you can choose the index approach that best fits your objectives.

That could mean integration, such as including companies with strong ESG profiles; screen portfolios for controversial activities and companies, target companies seeking to generate specific sustainable outcomes.

Explore our indexes


Interactive Assets

ESG Indexes

Screen

Indexes with exclusions on certain business involvement issues or reduction of exposure to the highest carbon emitters

Equity
  • MSCI ESG Screened
  • MSCI ex Controversial Weapons
  • MSCI ex Tobacco Involvement
  • MSCI USA Catholic Values
  • MSCI Islamic
Fixed Income
  • Bloomberg MSCI Socially Responsible (SRI)
Integrate

Indexes representing diversified strategies integrating ESG data (e.g. ratings) into broad-based indexes

Equity
  • MSCI SRI
  • MSCI KLD 400
  • MSCI ESG Leaders
  • MSCI ESG Focus
  • MSCI ESG Universal
  • MSCI USA ESG Select
Fixed Income
  • MSCI Fixed Income ESG Leaders
  • MSCI Fixed Income ESG Universal
  • Bloomberg MSCI ESG Weighted
  • Bloomberg MSCI ESG Sustainability
Target

Indexes designed to target a specific ESG theme in a more focused and targeted exposure

Equity
  • MSCI Sustainable Impact
  • MSCI Women's Leadership
  • MSCI Japan Human and Physical Investment
Fixed Income
  • Bloomberg MSCI Green Bonds



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    we also offer - ESG Indexes

    We also offer a range of climate indexes for investors who seek to incorporate climate risks and opportunities into their investment process. For more information, visit MSCI Climate Indexes.


    Contact - ESG Indexes

    Interested in learning more from MSCI?

    Contact sales

    At MSCI v2 - ESG Indexes

    At MSCI, we:

    • Offer over 3,900 equity and fixed income ESG indexes designed to provide institutional investors with effective and transparent tools to integrate ESG or climate considerations into their investment process and portfolios.1

    • Build indexes with the aim to help investors more effectively benchmark ESG investment performance and manage, measure and report on ESG mandates.

    • Seek to represent the performance of the most common ESG investment approaches by including, re-weighting or excluding companies by leveraging ESG criteria.


    we empower - ESG Indexes

    We empower you with tools designed to help you mitigate risk and meet your sustainability goals.

    To learn more about incorporating ESG considerations into your investment strategy, visit: ESG 101.

    A driving force in index innovation

    Our ESG Indexes rely on data from MSCI ESG Ratings and Climate Data and Metrics from MSCI ESG Research LLC, a pioneer in measuring forward-looking ESG risk and use of alternative data and AI technology, with over 40 years of experience2 objectively measuring and modeling ESG performance.

    We provide broad ESG Ratings coverage of over 10,000 companies — over 16,400 issuers including subsidiaries — representing over 785,000 securities with 90% of the world’s corporate equity and fixed income market capitalization.3

    MSCI ESG Research

    • Assessing companies based on industry materiality since 1999.4
    • Long history of measuring and embedding companies’ ESG risk exposure.4

    Index Profile Tool

    Examine the metrics and methodology disclosures for all EU-regulated MSCI equity and blended indexes, including MSCI ESG Indexes and non-ESG indexes.

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    30 years of ESG Indexes

    Take a look at the history of ESG indexes in our timeline below. We highlight key milestones in the evolution of ESG indexes since 1990, beginning with the launch of the Domini 400 Social Index (now the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index), through to the launch of the MSCI Fixed Income ESG Indexes in 2020. We also highlight significant developments such as MSCI's acquisition of Carbon Delta in 2019.


    (opens in a new tab) Download the timeline (opens in a new tab)
    (PDF, 629 KB)

    Solutions - ESG Indexes

    Learn more about our ESG solutions

    • Sustainable Finance

      Explore our ESG and climate regulation and disclosure resource center for institutional investors, managers and advisors.

    • MSCI Climate Indexes

      We offer both equity and fixed income climate indexes that aim to meet the diverse needs of institutional investors seeking to address climate change.

    • ESG solutions for issuers

      Interaction between MSCI ESG Research and the companies and fixed income issuers we rate continues to rapidly expand.

    • Climate and Net-Zero Solutions

      Explore solutions designed to empower investors to analyze and report on their portfolios’ exposures to transition and physical climate risk.


    Footnotes - ESG Investing

    1 Source: MSCI, as of March 2023

    2 Through our legacy companies KLD, Innovest, IRRC and GMI Ratings

    3 MSCI ESG Research as of April 2022, coverage subject to change. Based on analysis of the ACWI IMI, Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index, Bloomberg Global Emerging Markets Index, Bloomberg US High Yield and Bloomberg Global High Yield

    4 Origins of MSCI ESG Ratings established in 1999. Produced time series data since 2007