OneTrust Cookie Consent

Navigation

  • Skip to Content
  • Client Log In
  • Investor relations  (opens in a new tab)
  • Sustainability Institute  (opens in a new tab)
  • Subscribe
  • Contact us
  • Careers
  • Region
  • Go back to Main Menu
  • Client Log In
  • MSCI ONE  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI Client Support Site
  • Barra PortfolioManager
  • BarraOne  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI ESG Manager  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI ESG Direct  (opens in a new tab)
  • Global Index Lens
  • MSCI Real Assets Analytics Portal  (opens in a new tab)
  • RiskManager 3  (opens in a new tab)
  • CreditManager  (opens in a new tab)
  • RiskManager 4  (opens in a new tab)
  • Index Monitor  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI Datscha  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI Real Capital Analytics  (opens in a new tab)
  • Private i  (opens in a new tab)
  • Total Plan/Caissa  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI Wealth Manager (Fabric)  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI Carbon Markets  (opens in a new tab)
  • Go back to Main Menu
  • Region
  • China
  • India
  • Japan
Navigation

Navigation Menu

  • Our Clients
    • Go back to Main Menu
    • Our Clients
    • Asset Managers
    • Asset Owners
    • Banks
    • Corporates
    • Hedge Funds
    • Insurance Companies
    • Wealth Managers
  • Our Solutions
    • Go back to Main Menu
    • Our Solutions
    • Analytics
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Analytics
      • Analytics Overview
      • Risk Management
      • AI Portfolio Insights
      • Multi-asset Class Factor Models
      • Quantitative Investment Solutions
      • Fixed Income Analytics
      • Portfolio Management
      • Crowding Solutions
      • Regulatory Solutions
      • Managed Solutions
    • Climate Investing
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Climate Investing
      • Climate Investing Overview
      • Biodiversity
      • Carbon Markets
      • GeoSpatial Asset Intelligence
      • Portfolio Sustainability Insights
      • Real Estate Climate Solutions
    • Sustainable Investing
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Sustainable Investing
      • Sustainable Investing Overview
      • ESG Fund Ratings and Climate Search Tool
      • ESG Ratings
      • Impact Solutions
      • Sustainability Reporting Services
      • Sustainability and Climate Regulatory Toolkit
    • Factor Investing
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Factor Investing
      • Factor Investing Overview
      • Equity Factor Models
      • FactorLab
      • MSCI FaCS
      • Factor Indexes
    • Fixed Income
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Fixed Income
      • Fixed Income Overview
      • Fixed Income Analytics
      • Fixed Income Indexes
    • Private Capital
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Private Capital
      • Private Capital Overview
      • Private i
      • Total Plan Manager (formerly Caissa)
      • Emissions Footprinting
      • Private Capital Indexes
      • Private Company Data Connect
    • Real Assets
      • Go back to Our Solutions
      • Real Assets
      • Real Assets Overview
      • INCANS
      • Index Intel
      • Portfolio Services
      • Property Intel
      • Private Real Assets Indexes
      • Real Capital Analytics
    • Wealth Management
  • Indexes
    • Go back to Main Menu
    • Indexes
    • Indexes Overview
    • By Category
      • Go back to Indexes
      • By Category
      • By Category Overview
      • Climate
      • Market Cap
      • Fixed Income
      • Client-Designed
      • Sustainability
      • Factor
      • Thematic
      • Private Real Assets
      • Private Capital
    • Tools
      • Go back to Indexes
      • Tools
      • Tools Overview
      • Index Monitor
      • MSCI Index API
      • MSCI IndexMetrics®
      • Index Data Modules
      • Equity Index Constituents
      • Fixed Income Index Constituents
      • Index Profile Tool
      • Direct Indexing
    • Resources
      • Go back to Indexes
      • Resources
      • Resources Overview
      • Communications
      • Education
      • Equity Factsheets
      • Derivatives
      • Methodology
      • Performance
      • Regulation
  • Research & Insights
    • Go back to Main Menu
    • Research & Insights
    • Research & Insights
      • Go back to Research & Insights
      • Research & Insights
      • Research & Insights Overview
      • Carbon Markets
      • Climate
      • Equities
      • Factor Investing
      • Fixed Income
      • Multi-Asset Class
      • Private Capital
      • Real Estate
      • Sustainability
    • Events
      • Go back to Research & Insights
      • Events
      • Events Overview
      • On Demand
  • Discover MSCI
    • Go back to Main Menu
    • Discover MSCI
    • About Us
    • Technology
      • Go back to Discover MSCI
      • Technology
      • Technology Overview
      • Data Explorer
      • Developer Community
      • Technology and Data
    • Corporate Responsibility
      • Go back to Discover MSCI
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Corporate Responsibility Overview
      • Enabling Sustainable Investing
      • Environmental Sustainability
      • Governance Practices
      • Social Practices
      • Sustainability Reports and Policies
    • Inclusion & Belonging
    • Media Room
    • Our Leadership
    • Recognition
  • Client Log In
  • Investor relations  (opens in a new tab)
  • Sustainability Institute  (opens in a new tab)
  • Subscribe
  • Contact us
  • Careers
  • Region
  • Go back to Main Menu
  • Client Log In
  • MSCI ONE  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI Client Support Site
  • Barra PortfolioManager
  • BarraOne  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI ESG Manager  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI ESG Direct  (opens in a new tab)
  • Global Index Lens
  • MSCI Real Assets Analytics Portal  (opens in a new tab)
  • RiskManager 3  (opens in a new tab)
  • CreditManager  (opens in a new tab)
  • RiskManager 4  (opens in a new tab)
  • Index Monitor  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI Datscha  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI Real Capital Analytics  (opens in a new tab)
  • Private i  (opens in a new tab)
  • Total Plan/Caissa  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI Wealth Manager (Fabric)  (opens in a new tab)
  • MSCI Carbon Markets  (opens in a new tab)
  • Go back to Main Menu
  • Region
  • China
  • India
  • Japan

Main Search

Popular searches:
ACWI (opens in a new tab) Research (opens in a new tab) ESG (opens in a new tab) Factor Investment (opens in a new tab) Insights Gallery (opens in a new tab) Asset Owners (opens in a new tab)
Might interest you:
Powering Better Portfolios through Technology and Data
MSCI offers clients mission-critical data and technology capabilities focused on quality, reliability, and scale. To power the next wave of growth,...
ESG Ratings
MSCI ESG Ratings provides insights into ESG risks and opportunities within multi-asset class portfolios.
Research
MSCI has applied pioneering ideas to real-world investment challenges for more than four decades.
'Magnificent Seven' Drove the Equity-Market Rally

Extended Viewer

 

'Magnificent Seven' Drove the Equity-Market Rally

 

Dinank Chitkara and Rohit Gupta
June 28, 2023

Global equity markets bounced back strongly this year. The MSCI ACWI Index returned 7.9% through May 31, seeming to pause the trends seen in 2022 — dismal performance marked by a fall in big tech and investors favoring low-risk and value-oriented stocks vs. high-risk growth. A closer look at the underlying companies, however, reveals that only a handful of stocks led this rally.

Seven stocks' outsized return contribution

More than 70% of the total returns of the MSCI ACWI Index can be attributed to just seven stocks.1 This proportion was even more pronounced for the MSCI USA Index, where these stocks contributed nearly all (more than 95%) of the returns while accounting for just 26% of the index weight.2 For comparison, the MSCI factor indexes, which have low or zero exposure to these firms, significantly underperformed their parent indexes.

Part of the reasoning for this equity-market rally may be investors’ expectations of the future earnings potential of these seven stocks due to their exposure to structural megatrends. To test this theory, we looked at these stocks through the lens of MSCI thematic exposures divided into megatrend categories. All seven — including AI-driven NVIDIA Corp., which returned 156% through May 31 — had high relevance scores or economic association to most of the relevant megatrends.

While other drivers were likely at play, looking at thematic exposures may help investment managers analyze potential investments and explicitly express their views by tilting toward or away from relevant megatrends.

Total-return contribution of the seven stocks across indexes

 

Thematic exposure of the seven stocks

The relevance score, expressed as a number between 0% and 100%, measures the strength of the economic association between a company and a theme.


1 The seven companies are Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp., NVIDIA Corp. and Tesla Inc. For the analysis, Alphabet A and Alphabet C have been considered as one stock.

2 As of May 31, 2023.

Related content

The Rise and Fall of Big Tech

Big Tech has had an outsized influence on U.S. equity markets and its slide has largely been driven by eight stocks spanning three sectors.

Explore more

Tech and AI-Driven Firms Spearheaded Thematic Resurgence

The heightened interest in artificial intelligence this year has significantly boosted returns in several AI-centric areas.

Learn more

Indexing Change: Understanding MSCI Thematic Indexes

In this paper, we review the concept of thematic investing and discuss the differences between it and the factor and ESG investment processes.

Read more

msci logo
  • Terms of Use
  • Legal
  • Modern Slavery Statement
  • Privacy notice
  • Index regulation
  • Locations
  • Cookies
  • Use of ISO standards
  • Site map
Subscribe Contact us
© 2025 MSCI Inc. All rights reserved

UtmAnalytics