With extensive experience across sales, marketing, and senior leadership roles, Koel Ghosh brings deep expertise in the financial industry. She has spent over a decade with leading global firms, consistently advancing client engagement and driving strategic growth in dynamic market environments.
In this insightful feature with Women Entrepreneurs Review Magazine, Koel shares powerful perspectives on index-based investing, tech-driven innovation in India, and advice for future financial leaders driving innovation and inclusive growth. She gives readers an insight into how MSCI is driving strategic innovation, leveraging tech for client engagement, and working towards success in the near future.
In India’s rapidly evolving financial landscape, how are growing market complexities shaping the development and adoption of index-based investing strategies?
India stands as one of the fastest-growing economies globally, demonstrating remarkable resilience and potential.
According to MSCI Research, during the post-pandemic era, the Indian equity market has emerged as a critical indicator of global geopolitical shifts, reflecting its increasing significance on the international stage. This is also demonstrated through the MSCI India Index’s growth not only in number of securities but also its percentage in MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
Since 2020, holders of Indian equities have benefited as India's weight in the MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (IMI) has grown, hitting a historical high of 20% at the end of June 2024. In those four years, over 300 companies have joined the MSCI India IMI, adding substantial diversity.
This evolving landscape underscores the importance of index-based investing strategies, which are essential for capturing emerging opportunities and navigating the complexities of India’s rapidly changing financial environment.
What strategic innovation and decision-making are emerging among today’s financial leaders? How are they redefining the future of investment management?
Understanding and deploying advanced technology is not a luxury. It is essential to staying competitive and meeting client demands. AI is no doubt transformative and will touch all aspects of the investment cycle – from identifying trends and insights to developing faster, better connected tools.
For MSCI, AI is about reimagining risk models, but not tearing up everything businesses know about finance. With that in mind, MSCI is harnessing artificial intelligence across every aspect of our operations — from data collection and production, to model building and software development, to research, marketing, client engagement, financial management, and beyond.
In India’s passive space, innovation is leading to new ideas and themes that encompass the growing needs of the more informed and evolved investors. As investor awareness keeps growing, the future looks optimistic for the growth of passive investments. The shift from market beta to single factor and recently multifactor options look like the beginning of many more new ideas to build upon in this evolving market.
As technology transforms client engagement, how is MSCI leveraging this shift to deliver more localized, scalable solutions tailored to the needs of the Indian market?
MSCI launched the MSCI AI Portfolio Insights in 2024, which brings together generative AI with advanced analytical tools and modeling capabilities to curate enormous volumes of data and identify the most important factors shaping investment performance.
Another highlight is the MSCI GeoSpatial Asset Intelligence solution, which leverages our AI expertise and partnership with Google Cloud to help clients navigate physical and nature-based risks and opportunities on 700,000 public and private companies, 2 million corporate locations, and on-the-fly real estate locations.
As the landscape continues to evolve, MSCI remains committed to being client-centric —working closely with its clients to deliver solutions that address both their needs and those of the markets they serve.
LAST WORD: Message for Next-Gen Financial Leaders
To the next generation of financial leaders: lead with clarity, think boldly, and build with intention. When goals evolve into a shared mission, they bring people together and drive real momentum.
The most effective leaders today do more than set direction—they foster shared purpose. Communicating a vision that’s both ambitious and grounded helps teams connect to the “why,” not just the “what.”
Innovation takes courage. It means questioning established norms, welcoming new ideas, and taking thoughtful risks. At MSCI, this mindset has shaped our work—from developing tools that support sustainability and climate integration, to launching early models like Climate Value-at-Risk, which helped quantify climate-related financial risks at the portfolio level.
As investor needs have grown more complex, multi-factor index strategies have expanded significantly. Our MSCI Core Multiple-Factor Indexes aim to reflect that evolution, drawing on our longstanding expertise in factor analytics, risk modeling, and index design. These indexes focus on three enduring style factors: value, momentum, and quality.
Intentional progress is also about collaboration. At MSCI, we’ve seen how emerging technologies like AI are helping transform investment analysis and guide the development of indexes that reflect shifting economies.
Ultimately, we see our role as more than a data and analytics provider—we aim to contribute to forward progress. For those starting out or stepping forward in finance, staying grounded in purpose, open to change, and focused on impact will always matter.
