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  "documentTitle": "MSCI Inc. (MSCI)",
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      "text": "Spruce Point believes that self-indexing poses a large and growing threat to MSCI's Index business.",
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      "text": "Spruce Point believes that self-indexing poses a large and growing threat to MSCI's Index business. MSCI started disclosing this risk in early 2019. In fact, BlackRock, MSCI's largest customer, openly talks about pursuing and enacting self-indexing products given the advantages of cost and flexibility.",
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      "kind": "quote",
      "text": "We are also continuing to invest in scale efficiencies. We get this obviously through Aladdin, but we're also diversifying our ETF servicers, diversifying index providers, and expanding our own capabilities around self-indexing...",
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      "text": "Now on the self-indexing part of your question, look, self-indexing certainly has some advantages, and the advantages are cost and flexibility. So we're exploring constantly self-indexing in areas where there aren't well-defined indices...",
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      "kind": "quote",
      "text": "We seeded or co-invested $1.1 billion into products as we built new and innovative investment capabilities, including alternative, ESG-related, and self-indexed offerings.",
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      "text": "We also launched BlackRock's first self-indexed ETFs... This illustrates one of the ways we are using our scale and technology to reduce manufacturing costs and pass along greater savings to our clients.",
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      "text": "We also launched BlackRock's first self-indexed ETFs... This illustrates one of the ways we are using our scale and technology to reduce manufacturing costs and pass along greater savings to our clients. — Larry Fink, CEO, July 2017; We seeded or co-invested $1.1 billion into products as we built new and innovative investment capabilities, including alternative, ESG-related, and self-indexed offerings. — April 2018 Proxy Statement; Now on the self-indexing part of your question, look, self-indexing certainly has some advantages, and the advantages are cost and flexibility. So we're exploring constantly self-indexing in areas where there aren't well-defined indices... And currently, we have 6 self-indexed ETFs. — Robert Kapito, President & Director, January 2021; We are also continuing to invest in scale efficiencies. We get this obviously through Aladdin, but we're also diversifying our ETF servicers, diversifying index providers, and expanding our own capabilities around self-indexing, custom indexing, and proprietary data and analytics, especially in fast-growing areas like ESG. — Salim Ramji, Senior Managing Director & Global Head of iShares & Index Investments, Investor Day, June 2021",
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      "kind": "source-note",
      "text": "Sources: BLK Q2 2017 Earning Call, BLK 2018 DEF14A, BLK Q4 2020 Earning Call, BLK 2021 Investor Day, MSCI 2018 10-K (filed Feb 2019)",
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