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October 28, 2025 • 3 min read
MSCI Inc., a titan in the world of financial indexes and portfolio analytics, recently filed its third-quarter 2025 financial results. For anyone tracking the pulse of the global investment community, this report offers a clear look into the company's health and the trends shaping its performance. Let's dive into the key numbers from their latest 10-Q filing to see how the business is faring.
For the third quarter ended September 30, 2025, MSCI reported impressive financial results. Total operating revenue climbed 9.5% year-over-year to $793.4 million. This growth translated effectively to the bottom line, with net income surging 15.8% to $325.4 million.
This flow diagram provides a visual breakdown of MSCI's quarterly revenues and how they cascade through various expenses to arrive at the final net income.
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The performance was largely driven by the company's largest and most prominent division, the Index segment, which provides the well-known benchmarks used by countless ETFs and mutual funds. This segment's revenue grew by 11.4% to $451.2 million, accounting for nearly 57% of the company's total revenue.
A key factor here was a 17.1% increase in asset-based fees, which are directly tied to the assets under management (AUM) in investment products that track MSCI indexes. With the average AUM in ETFs linked to MSCI indexes rising to approximately $2.1 trillion for the quarter, the company benefited significantly from positive market performance and investor inflows.
To understand a subscription-heavy business like MSCI, we need to look beyond quarterly revenue to forward-looking metrics. One of the most important is Run Rate, which is the annualized value of all recurring services clients are committed to at the end of a period.
As of September 30, 2025, MSCI’s total Run Rate stood at an impressive $3.19 billion, up 10.1% from the prior year. This growth indicates a strong pipeline of future revenue. The breakdown shows healthy demand across the board:
Underpinning this growth is a very loyal customer base. MSCI reported an overall Retention Rate of 94.7%, a testament to the "stickiness" of its products and their integration into client workflows. High retention is crucial as it provides a stable base upon which to build new sales.
While revenues grew, MSCI also managed its expenses effectively. Total operating expenses rose by a more moderate 6.9% to $345.7 million. The primary driver of this increase was a 10.5% rise in compensation and benefits, reflecting continued investment in talent to support product development and growth initiatives.
MSCI has also been actively returning capital to its shareholders. In the first nine months of 2025, the company repurchased $1.51 billion of its common stock, a substantial increase from the $440 million repurchased during the same period in 2024.
MSCI's third-quarter performance paints a picture of a company firing on all cylinders. Its core Index business is thriving, capitalizing on the growth of passive investing and positive market trends. The company's other segments, though smaller, are also contributing steady growth. With strong forward-looking metrics like Run Rate and a high client retention rate, MSCI appears well-positioned. However, as its results are closely tied to the health of global financial markets, the broader economic climate remains a key factor for investors to monitor.
Last updated: October 28, 2025