Despite MSCI’s dominance in global market data, Lester thinks the firm’s “fundamental expertise” and environmental, social and governance (ESG) research is still “underappreciated” by the world at large.
As Ashley Lester puts it, being the chief research officer at MSCI is akin to “being a kid in a candy shop”.
He adds: “We’ve got so much expertise across many different aspects of financial markets. Moreover, we have such [a] great client list that we can find out the relevant trends. We can be part of shaping how the investment community thinks about those trends.”
