21/09/2026 12:27 AST
Boursa Kuwait hosted the MSCI Institutional Investor Forum at its headquarters on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, bringing together senior institutional investment professionals to discuss the major shifts reshaping global markets and their implications for portfolio construction, asset allocation and risk management.
Hosted at Boursa Kuwait for the second year, the forum is one of three invitation-only gatherings MSCI is holding across the Middle East in 2026, convening institutional investors and investment leaders from across the region to exchange views on the issues most affecting investment decisions. It also extends the knowledge exchange between Boursa Kuwait and MSCI that began in 2020 and strengthens direct engagement between Kuwaiti market participants and global investment expertise, research and practice.
Investment insights for a fast-changing world
The forum opened with welcome remarks by Justin Kennedy-Lunde, Executive Director, Head of Middle East, MSCI, followed by a series of specialist sessions on the key forces shaping the global investment landscape.
In a session titled "Positioning for a Shifting World: Navigating AI, Geopolitics and the New Investment Paradigm," Ashley Lester, Chief Research and Development Officer at MSCI, examined how artificial intelligence and geopolitical shifts are reshaping investment opportunities, portfolio construction and strategic asset allocation. Seibert Kruger, Head of Institutional Investment Research at MSCI, then discussed the evolution of public market structures, factor insights, innovation in index design and the search for new sources of alpha in a changing investment environment.
Uday Karri, Vice President, Research & Development at MSCI then addressed the importance of greater transparency and data quality in valuing investments and measuring their performance in private markets, enabling allocators to compare public and private exposures on a more consistent analytical basis, in a session titled "Private Markets in Focus: Turning Clearer Data into Better Decisions."
Bentley Kaplan, Vice President, Research & Development at MSCI, closed the sessions with "Materiality, Mapped: From Sustainability to Structural Exposure," which examined how sustainability and climate data have correlated with financial performance across Gulf markets, and how new data is broadening the analysis of structural exposures and investment risk.
Deeper knowledge to support market participants
The forum gave institutional investors and market participants direct access to MSCI's research and expertise, and an opportunity to discuss approaches to portfolio construction, asset allocation and the measurement of risk and performance, alongside developments in public and private markets. It also opened a direct dialogue between brokers, asset managers and other market participants and MSCI on the evolution of market structures, index innovation and the analysis of investment exposures, helping participants keep pace with the practices and tools relied on by global institutional investors.
The forum also offered listed companies a deeper understanding of the issues that shape institutional investor priorities, in particular data quality, transparency, sustainability and risk management, aligning with Boursa Kuwait's efforts to strengthen investor relations, disclosure and sustainability practices among issuers, and to broaden engagement with local and international investors.
Kuwait on MSCI's regional agenda
Commenting on hosting the event for the second consecutive year, and on the shifts in the global investment landscape addressed in this year's edition, Head of Markets Sector at Boursa Kuwait Noura AlAbdulkareem said, "The investment environment is changing at pace, driven by advances in artificial intelligence and data, geopolitical shifts and the growth of private markets, which makes direct dialogue with global research and investment institutions more important than ever."
"Kuwait's selection as part of the MSCI Institutional Investor Forum's regional tour reflects the Kuwaiti capital market's growing presence within the region's institutional investment landscape," she added.
AlAbdulkareem stressed that Boursa Kuwait is committed to giving listed companies, investors and market participants direct access to the latest global research, insights and practices, driven by the belief that knowledge and the quality of information are essential to market efficiency and better-informed investment decisions.
"This forum forms part of the exchange's efforts to strengthen the Kuwaiti capital market's presence in the global investment dialogue and to deepen its collaboration with MSCI," she stated.
The MSCI Institutional Investor Forum strengthens direct engagement between Kuwait's investment community and global institutional expertise, at a time when specialist data and research are becoming ever more important to understanding risk and opportunity and to building portfolios.
"Institutional investors today operate in an environment marked by rapid geopolitical and technological change and growing interconnection between public and private markets," said Justin Kennedy-Lunde, Executive Director, Head of Middle East at MSCI.
"This backdrop raises the value of specialist research, high-quality data and advanced analytical tools in understanding risk and opportunity and building portfolios that can adapt to change," he added.
"We value our collaboration with Boursa Kuwait in bringing together investors, decision-makers and experts to discuss the issues reshaping the global investment landscape and thank them for hosting the MSCI Institutional Investor Forum for a second year."
From reclassification to deeper institutional dialogue
In 2019, MSCI announced the reclassification of Kuwait from "Frontier" to "Emerging Market" status, a milestone in the capital market's development that took effect in November 2020.
On 30 November 2020, seven Kuwaiti companies were included to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. On the day, the market recorded a trading value of more than KD 961.6 million, one of the highest daily levels in its history.
Additionally, the knowledge exchange between Boursa Kuwait and MSCI has expanded to include specialist events on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on markets, ESG standards and the global investment landscape and its implications for regional markets, leading up to this edition of the Institutional Investor Forum.
Hosting the forum for the second year reflects how the relationship has evolved, from the market's reclassification within global indices to a broader institutional dialogue on the trends shaping capital allocation, portfolio construction and risk management.
A continuing path to deepen market knowledge
Boursa Kuwait's hosting of the MSCI Institutional Investor Forum forms part of the knowledge and educational initiatives the exchange pursues in support of its efforts to develop the capital market and strengthen the readiness of its participants.
These initiatives, which include specialist programs and events, bring listed companies, investors and practitioners together with leading local and international institutions, and address topics that keep pace with the evolution of market instruments and the needs of the investment community.
The forum gives participants access to global institutional research and insights and the opportunity to exchange expertise with the region's investment leaders, reflecting Boursa Kuwait's commitment to advancing financial literacy and market knowledge, in line with Goal 4 - Quality Education - and Goal 17 - Partnerships for the Goals - of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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