MSCI introduced Thursday a set of indexes excluding fossil-fuel companies.
The MSCI ACWI ex-Fossil Fuels excludes 127 companies representing 9.5% of the market capitalization of the MSCI ACWI to eliminate 100% of carbon reserves exposure of its constituent companies, a MSCI statement said.
The MSCI AWCI ex-Coal excludes 26 companies representing 1.3% of the market cap of MSCI ACWI and reduced carbon reserves exposure by 50%.
MSCI ACWI is made up of some 2,450 companies and has a market capitalization of $34.5 trillion.
Top companies excluded from the ex-Fossil Fuel index include Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. BP PLC, Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
Top companies excluded from both indexes include BHP Billiton PLC, Rio Tinto PLC, Glencore Xtrata and Anglo American PLC.
MSCI created the exclusion indexes “in response to investor demand for benchmarks designed to represent the performance of the broad market while excluding companies that own oil, gas and/or coal reserves,” the statement said. “Institutional investors are increasingly concerned that these reserves could potentially be stranded in the context of the transition to a low-carbon economy.”
