SET President Charamporn Jotikasthira said, “The two Thai stocks have been added to MSCI Global Standard Indices, with no deletions, making Thailand the country with the highest net addition in Southeast Asia. These stocks, having a combined market capitalization of THB 225 billion (USD 7.2 billion), are BTS Group Holdings pcl (BTS) and TMB Bank pcl (TMB). Consequently, there are a total 30 Thai stocks in the indices.”
In addition, 15 Thai stocks were added to MSCI Global Small Cap Indices and two stocks removed, for a net increase of 13. The additions are Asia Plus Securities pcl (ASP), Chularat Hospital pcl (CHG), CK. Power pcl (CKP), Country Group Development pcl (CGD), Diamond Building Products pcl (DRT), DSG International (Thailand) pcl (DSG), KCE Electronics pcl (KCE), MBK pcl (MBK), MC Group pcl (MC), MK Restaurant Group pcl (M), Mono Technology pcl (MONO), Nok Airlines pcl (NOK), RS pcl (RS), Thai Union Frozen Products pcl (TUF), and The Erawan Group pcl (ERW).
“The number of Thai stocks in MSCI Global Standard Indices has increased since November 2010, reflecting that Thai companies are getting bigger and have more liquidity, boosting their attractiveness among foreign investors. The 15 Thai stocks joining the MSCI Small Cap Indices includes six which have just listed this year, accounting for 40 percent of the Thai stock additions. Of these six, five are SET-listed companies, which are CHG, CKP, M, MC, and NOK; and mai-listed MONO. This proved that Thai IPOs are in spotlight among investors due to their attractiveness and liquidity.”
With the MSCI Global Standard Indices review, four net additions are from ASEAN — two from Thailand, and one each from Malaysia and the Philippines. For the MSCI Small Cap Indices, there are 37 net additions from ASEAN — 13 from Thailand, nine from Singapore, eight from Malaysia, five from Indonesia, and two from Philippines. Thus, the most net additions in ASEAN to the two MSCI indices are from Thailand.
MSCI Indices are designed to measure equity market performance. They are well-known among foreign institutional investors, especially for foreign fund managers who use them as benchmarks to measure Thailand's equity market. However, MSCI selects stocks for inclusion based on their market cap, liquidity, and number of tradable stocks for foreign investors.