MSCI Expands Custom Index Offering With Acquisition of Foxberry

MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of mission-critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, today announced it has signed a purchase agreement to acquire Foxberry, a London-based provider of front-office index technology for investors.

Foxberry was founded in 2014 with the mission of building and delivering investment solutions that are driven by technology, account for a specific set of criteria, and increase the value-add for end-users. These solutions are enabled by Foxberry’s foxf9 platform, a comprehensive index and analytics platform designed to tackle the most complex index construction and risk-modelling applications. The platform focuses on index and strategy creation through hyper customization, extensive back-testing and simulation capabilities, sustainability criteria, and reporting.

The strategic integration of Foxberry and the foxf9 indexing and analytics toolset will strengthen MSCI’s existing suite of index customization solutions. By providing a new client-centric, interactive experience, MSCI will further scale its ability to deliver client ideation through simulation and analysis and introduce new features relevant for a wide variety of investors.

“Investors face the challenge of balancing competing investment objectives. This acquisition will allow MSCI to better meet demand for customized portfolios that reflect unique views and meet specific outcomes, emphasizing our commitment to providing tailored index solutions,” said Jana Haines, Head of Index, MSCI.

“The merger of Foxberry with MSCI will greatly improve the feedback loops for our clients within all areas relating to index R&D,” said Henrik Brunlid, Co-founder and CEO, Foxberry. “We are truly excited to join MSCI for the next part of our journey in building the next generation of indexing technology.”

“Foxberry built its foxf9 technology to enable indexing hyper customization. Together with MSCI, a world leader in indexing, we look forward to strengthening and scaling index innovation, leveraging MSCI’s world class data and optimizers,” added Peter Fors, Co-founder and CTO, Foxberry.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and the financial impact of the transaction is not expected to be material to MSCI. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Foxberry’s financial results will be presented as part of MSCI’s Index reportable segment.