【英语财经】MSCI明晟重提将A股纳入新兴市场股指 MSCI revives talks on China joining EM index

The leading provider of emerging stock market indices has revived talks on adding mainland Chinese shares to its benchmark despite concerns following last year’s stock market swings.

MSCI chose not to include Shanghai and Shenzhen listed companies — known as “A shares” — to its Emerging Markets index last summer after investors expressed worries about their ability to buy and sell mainland shares.

At the time MSCI said it would remove China from its annual review process. On Thursday, however, they issued a new “inclusion roadmap”, a consultation paper to be sent to clients for feedback, ahead of a decision in June.

“The reopening of the consultation follows the recently implemented changes by the Chinese authorities aimed at enhancing the accessibility of the China A shares market for international institutional investors,” MSCI said.

The new inclusion proposal would give mainland-listed Chinese shares a 1.1 per cent weighting in the global EM index, which is tracked by $1.5tn of assets.

Inclusion in the MSCI EM index would enhance China’s reputation in global stock markets and require funds that track the index passively to buy the shares regardless of their feelings towards the stocks.

Global investment firms expressed surprise that MSCI would reconsider its position so soon after last year’s stock slide prompted heavy-handed intervention by China including the suspension of two-thirds of listed stocks from trading.

Devan Kaloo, head of emerging market equities at Aberdeen Asset Management, said: “The events of 2015 have scared off a lot of foreign investors and raised questions about the efficacy of the regulator in China. The country is likely to be included in the index, but it may take some time.”

MSCI noted lingering worries and said: “International institutional investors continue to be concerned by the significant liquidity risks that may result from potential renewed voluntary suspensions in trading on the local stock exchanges of mainland Chinese companies.”

Marco Mencini, head of EM equity at Pioneer Investments, said the events of last year should not cost China access to the leading index of EM stock markets.

“I’m surprised by those who think A share inclusion should not happen. It’s unrealistic when you consider the size of the market. Disclosure is improving and China is opening up its system. It is paving the way to become part of the global financial system. The inclusion is a matter of if not when.”

The MSCI index already has exposure to corporate China, through a mix of Hong Kong and US listings. Shanghai stocks can be traded easily through a link with the Hong Kong exchange, although issues remain, such as daily trading limits and a lack of clarity over beneficial ownership.

Access to Shenzhen stocks is still restricted to a quota system, following the delay in launch a cross-border trading scheme slated for late last year.

新兴市场股市指数的领先提供商已重启将中国内地股票纳入其基准的磋商，尽管在去年出现股市波动后各方存在担忧。

MSCI明晟在去年夏天决定不把在上海和深圳上市的公司（即“A股”）纳入其新兴市场指数，此前投资者对他们买卖内地股票的能力表示担忧。

当时MSCI明晟表示，将在其年度审议过程中移除中国。但在本周四，这家指数提供商发布了新的“纳入路线图”，这是一份被发给客户征求反馈的谘询文件，最终决定将在6月作出。

“重启磋商之前，中国有关部门最近实施了旨在加强中国A股市场对国际机构投资者开放度的变化，”MSCI明晟表示。

新的纳入提议将在全球新兴市场指数(global EM index)中给予中国A股1.1%的权重，跟踪该指数的资产达到1.5万亿美元。

纳入MSCI明晟的新兴市场指数将提高中国在全球股市的声誉，并要求被动跟踪该指数的基金买入中国A股——无论他们对这些股票感觉如何。

对于MSCI明晟在去年股市下滑引发中国大举干预（包括让三分之二股票停牌）之后这么快就重新考虑其立场，全球投资公司纷纷表示惊讶。

安本资产管理公司(Aberdeen Asset Management)新兴市场股票主管德万?卡卢(Devan Kaloo)表示：“2015年的事件吓跑了不少外国投资者，还引发了围绕中国监管机构办事能力的质疑。中国可能会被纳入该指数，但这可能需要一些时间。”

MSCI明晟指出了挥之不去的担忧，称：“国际机构投资者继续对显著的流动性风险予以关注，此类风险可能源自中国内地股票在国内证交所自愿停牌的可能性。”

锋裕投资(Pioneer Investments)新兴市场股票主管马可?门奇尼(Marco Mencini)表示，去年发生的事件不应该使中国被挡在新兴市场股票的领先指数门外。

“认为A股不应该被纳入的那些人让我感到惊讶。当你考虑这个市场的规模时，那是不现实的。信息披露正在改善，中国正在开放其体系。它正在为成为全球金融体系的一部分铺平道路。这是一个‘现在不纳入，更待何时’的问题。”

通过在香港和美国上市的中国内地企业，MSCI明晟已经对中国企业有一定敞口。境外投资者可通过“沪港通”机制方便地交易在上海上市的股票，尽管仍存在一些问题，比如每日交易限额以及受益所有权不明确。

在原定去年末开通的“深港通”跨境交易机制被延迟后，境外投资者仍需通过一个配额制度进入深圳股市。

译者/和风