MSCI Emerging Markets Index
The equity index of developing countries along which global funds distribute capital.
How to read the number
Its practical weight exceeds its measuring value: inclusion brings passive money with it, and exclusion takes that money away regardless of how the companies are doing.
When the metric lies
Membership is decided by a private company under its own methodology — classifying a country as emerging is a judgement, not a fact about its economy.
Also known as: msci em