, Columnist
MSCI China Bulls, Prepare to Be Disappointed
Investor confidence that A shares will be added to benchmark indexes looks misplaced.
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Investors have been buying mainland Chinese stocks in the hope they'll be added to MSCI Inc.'s benchmark indexes. Such confidence may be misplaced.
The creator of equity gauges followed by global money managers is set to announce within a week whether 169 so-called A shares will be included. It's a less ambitious proposal than in previous years, considering there are some 3,380 companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses. A shares would account for just 0.5 percent of MSCI's emerging markets index if they're allowed in, though China already has the single-largest weighting by virtue of mainland firms listed in Hong Kong and the U.S.