Leading index provider to the exchange-traded fund industry MSCI has renamed its South East Asia Index offerings, which will subsequently be known as the MSCI ASEAN Indices.

Alvin Lee, ASEAN country head for MSCI’s Asia Pacific region.

ASEAN is an acronym for “Association of SouthEast Asian Nations”. MSCI has adopted the change in branding to reflect the development of the member nations of ASEAN as a region of sustained growth and economic development. The ASEAN Secretariat has granted MSCI the right to use the ASEAN designation in conjunction with the company’s index offering.

“The rebranding of our Southeast Asia index offerings demonstrates MSCI’s commitment to the ASEAN region and to evolving with the development of its capital markets,” said Alvin Lee, ASEAN country head for MSCI’s Asia Pacific region. “The change offers institutional investors a framework designed to represent the investable market and recognizes the significance of ASEAN as an investment bloc and an engine of global economic growth.”

In addition to renaming 234 standard indices, MSCI has added new offerings designed to represent a range of opportunity sets across the developed, emerging and frontier markets in the ASEAN region. The previous MSCI Southeast Asia Indices referred specifically to the combined, regional developed and emerging markets opportunity set. The new MSCI ASEAN Indices cover developed, emerging, and frontier markets with various combinations of these three components.

The MSCI AC ASEAN Index include large and mid-cap equities across one developed market country (Singapore) and four emerging market countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand). Additionally, MSCI has created indices for ASEAN emerging markets only (MSCI EM ASEAN Index), emerging and frontier markets within ASEAN which includes Vietnam (MSCI EFM ASEAN Index), and all market categories (MSCI ASEAN Index).

“Global investors now have deeper insights into the region’s investment opportunities via the new MSCI ASEAN Indices,” said Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, one of seven members of the ASEAN Exchanges, a collaboration of seven exchanges across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam that are aligned to promote the growth of the region’s capital markets. “We applaud MSCI’s support of ASEAN and look forward to working together in creating more ASEAN-centric products.”

“ASEAN products are a key initiative from the ASEAN exchanges collaboration to enhance regional liquidity and showcase the quality of investment opportunities in the region,” added Kesara Manchusree, President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, another member of the ASEAN Exchanges. “We are working with MSCI because of the depth of its knowledge and breadth of products covering the ASEAN marketplace.”