Posted on by Sheena Gillett

Press Release

WMA Selects MSCI for Private Investor Index Series

1st September 2016

The Wealth Management Association (WMA1) today announced an agreement with MSCI to provide the Private Investor Index Series2.

MSCI will offer the wealth management community a series of flexible multi-asset class indices that will be augmented and enhanced over time based on the changing needs of the private client sector.

This change is the culmination of a lengthy project initially undertaken by the WMA Private Indices Committee in which it considered those requirements and augmentations deemed necessary to ensure the Private Investor Index Series remain credible, useful and relevant to the Wealth Management community. Furthermore, the Committee debated what flexibility in an index provider is necessary so that these enhancements can be delivered when required. Having considered these findings and the long-terms needs of the Private Investor Index Series the WMA Board has decided to appoint MSCI as the exclusive index provider for these indices.

This new agreement will ensure the delivery of a suite comprising of five indices: conservative, balanced, income, growth and global growth.

Further consultation with the WMA membership and Private Investor Indices Committee will take place and inform the ongoing development and refinement of the traditional indices, in addition to exploring with MSCI options for additional new indices.

With agreement from the WMA Board the use of the new index series will begin on 1st March 2017.

Maintaining the transparency of the Private Investor Index Series will remain a priority for both sides and the data collection for the indices from within the WMA membership will remain in WMA hands and continue to be 100% confidential and reported anonymously.

WMA Chief Executive, Liz Field comments:
“It is essential that as a trade association we constantly review the ongoing relevance and use of our suite of indices for our member firms.  As demands change we need to be able to evolve with them and the flexibility offered by MSCI allow us to do that.”

Diana Tidd, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Products at MSCI said:
”We are proud that the WMA has chosen MSCI as the provider for this index series.  We are dedicated to supporting the wealth management community, and delivering top quality indexes.  MSCI’s long history as a leading global index provider and our desire to work closely with our valued clients, gives us the experience and ability to be nimble and to flexibly adapt to evolving markets and client needs.”

Notes for Editors

Contact

If you would like further information on this release or other press matters please contact:

  • Kristin Meza, MSCI, Kristin.Meza@msci.com, + 1.212.804.5330 or
    Nick Denton | Christian Pickel, MHP Communications, London +44 (0)20 3128 8754/8208

About the Wealth Management Association (WMA1)

  • The Wealth Management Association (WMA) is a trade association that represents 183 wealth management firms (full members) and associate members who provide professional services to our full member firms.
  • WMA members firms look after over £734 billion of wealth for over 4 million retail investors.
  • WMA full members deal in stocks, shares and other financial instruments for individuals, trusts and charities through a range of services spanning execution only, advisory and discretionary fund management.
  • The WMA exists to support its members and their clients in the following ways:
    • To be an advocate for the sector with governments, regulators and the wider financial services community;
    • To influence policy and also decision makers within the wider sector to the benefit of WMA members and their clients;
    • To research and provide definitive information about the sector as required for members and in support of the influencing and advocacy objectives;
    • To be a thought leader, to lead and stimulate debate and make members aware of emerging trends; challenging and provoking change.
    • Facilitating the sharing of good practice, enabling the membership as a whole to benefit from the latest developments affecting the sector as well as providing support to enable them to develop good prescribe and overcome challenges.
  • WMA firms operate across more than 580 sites, employing over 32,000 staff.
  • These firms also run over 5.5 million client portfolios and carry out over 20 million trades a year.
  • www.thewma.co.uk
  • Switchboard: 020 7448 7100

About the WMA Private Investor Index Series 2

The WMA Private Investor Index Series are a set of calculations which indicate the returns which investors might expect from portfolios.

Since their launch in 1997 they have become accepted as benchmarks measuring the performance of private client portfolios.

They can provide:

  • Measures to compare the range of performance across a variety of portfolios.
  • A basis for reviewing the asset allocation and structure of your portfolio with your wealth manager.
  • A benchmark for assessing and comparing the performance of discretionary fund managers.

There are five Private Investor Indices, to reflect the differing aims of investors:

  • The Growth portfolio
  • The Income portfolio
  • The Balanced portfolio
  • The Conservative index
  • The Global Growth index

The information and latest values of the indices can be found on the Private Investor Indices area of the WMA website.