UK's Wealth Management Association Goes Live With MSCI Index Series

Tom Burroughes

3 March 2017

The new MSCI WMA Private Investor Index Series, a benchmark for UK private client portfolio performance, went live as of 1 March, following the Wealth Management Association's recent decision to use MSCI as a provider instead of FTSE Group.

The indices, which provide an overview of five distinct investment strategies, were developed by the WMA in conjunction with the new sole authorised index data provider, MSCI.

The asset allocation weightings are reviewed on a quarterly basis under the guidance of the WMA Private Investor indices committee. The indices are made up of asset classes such as equities, bonds, real estate, "cash" and "alternative investments".

To better reflect the requirements of the WMA indices committee and the wider wealth management practitioner community, from March 2017 onwards, four of the indices (Growth, Balanced, Income and Conservative) will include an expanded range of fixed income index allocation options to include gilts, corporate and inflation-linked bonds.

The strategy-tracking indices are the longest-running private investment, multi-asset-class index series in the UK. The Balanced, Income and Growth indices began in 1997, while the Conservative and Global Growth indices were initiated in 2011.

All the sub-indices underlying the new MSCI WMA Private Investor Index Series are liquid and fully replicable, providing equivalent historical data and daily market pricing. This ensures continuity, consistency and integrity for the index series.

The five multi-asset strategy indices include:
- MSCI WMA Private Investor Conservative Index
- MSCI WMA Private Investor Income Index
- MSCI WMA Private Investor Growth Index
- MSCI WMA Private Investor Balanced Index
- MSCI WMA Private Investor Global Growth Index