For the second year running, Kuwait Stock Exchange hosts MSCI Forum for Institutional Investors

The Kuwait Stock Exchange hosted the “MSCI Institutional Investors Forum” at its headquarters in the Kuwaiti capital on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. The event brought together a select group of leading institutional investment specialists to discuss the key transformations reshaping global markets and their implications for portfolio construction, asset allocation, and risk management.

This marks the second consecutive year that the Kuwait Stock Exchange has hosted the forum, which is part of three exclusive MSCI events organized in the Middle East in 2026. These gatherings unite institutional investors and investment leaders in the region to exchange insights on the issues most influential in investment decision-making. The forum also extends the knowledge-sharing partnership between the Kuwait Stock Exchange and MSCI, which began in 2020, fostering direct engagement between participants in Kuwait’s capital markets and global expertise, research, and investment practices.

The forum opened with welcoming remarks by Justin Kennedy-Lund, Head of the Middle East at MSCI, followed by a series of specialized sessions addressing the most significant changes affecting the global investment landscape.

Ashley Lester, Head of Research and Development at MSCI, presented during a session titled “Investment Positioning in a Changing World: Navigating Artificial Intelligence, Geopolitics, and the New Investment Paradigm.” He examined the impact of artificial intelligence and geopolitical shifts on investment opportunities, portfolio construction, and strategic asset allocation. Meanwhile, Siebert Kruger, Head of Institutional Investment Research at MSCI, discussed the evolution of public market structures, factor investment analytics, innovation in index design, and the search for additional return sources amid a changing investment environment.

In the context of private markets, Uday Kari, Vice President in the Research and Development sector at MSCI, highlighted the importance of enhancing transparency and data quality in evaluating investments and measuring performance. This enables more consistent analytical comparisons of exposures between public and private markets.

Bentley Kaplan, Vice President in the Research and Development sector at MSCI, concluded the sessions by reviewing the relationship between sustainability and climate data and financial performance in Gulf markets. He emphasized the role of new data in expanding the scope of structural exposure analysis and investment risk assessment.

The forum provided institutional investors and market participants with direct access to MSCI’s research and expertise, enabling discussions on portfolio construction, asset allocation, risk and performance measurement, as well as developments in public and private markets.

It also facilitated direct dialogue between brokers, asset managers, other participants, and MSCI’s research leaders on the evolution of market structures, index innovation, and investment exposure analysis, thereby supporting alignment with the practices and tools employed by global institutional investors.

For listed companies, the forum offered a deeper understanding of issues that shape institutional investor priorities, particularly data quality, transparency, sustainability, and risk management. These topics align with the Kuwait Stock Exchange’s efforts to enhance investor relations practices, disclosure, sustainability initiatives, and engagement with a broader base of local and international investors.

Commenting on Kuwait hosting the event for the second consecutive year and the impactful shifts in the global investment landscape covered in this year’s edition, Nora Al-Abdulkarim, Head of Markets at the Kuwait Stock Exchange, said: “The investment environment is changing at an accelerating pace, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence and data, geopolitical shifts, and the growth of private markets, which heightens the importance of direct dialogue with global research and investment institutions. Kuwait’s selection for the regional round of the MSCI Institutional Investors Forum reflects the growing presence of the Kuwaiti capital market within the regional institutional investment ecosystem.”

She added: “The Kuwait Stock Exchange is committed to providing listed companies, investors, and market participants with direct access to the latest global research, insights, and best practices, based on its belief that knowledge and information quality are fundamental to supporting market efficiency and enabling more informed investment decisions. The forum aligns with the Exchange’s efforts to strengthen the Kuwaiti capital market’s presence in global investment dialogue and deepen cooperation with MSCI.”

The MSCI Institutional Investors Forum enhances direct communication between Kuwait’s investment community and global institutional expertise, at a time when specialized data and research are increasingly vital for understanding risks and opportunities and constructing portfolios.

For his part, Mr. Justin Kennedy-Lund, Head of the Middle East at MSCI, stated: “Investment institutions today operate in an environment characterized by accelerating geopolitical and technological transformations and growing interconnectivity between public and private markets, underscoring the importance of specialized research, high-quality data, and advanced analytical tools for understanding risks and opportunities and building portfolios better equipped to adapt to changes. We value our collaboration with the Kuwait Stock Exchange in bringing together investors, decision-makers, and experts to discuss issues reshaping the global investment landscape, and we thank them for hosting this forum for the second consecutive year.”

MSCI announced the reclassification of Kuwait from an emerging frontier market to an emerging market in 2019, with the decision taking effect in November 2020.

On the day seven Kuwaiti companies were added to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index on November 30, 2020, trading volume exceeded KWD 961.6 million, marking one of the highest daily trading levels recorded by the market.

Since then, knowledge exchange between the Kuwait Stock Exchange and MSCI has expanded to include specialized events addressing the pandemic’s impact on markets, governance, social and environmental standards, the global investment landscape and its implications for regional markets, culminating in the Institutional Investors Forum.

Hosting the forum for the second year also reflects the evolution of the relationship between the two parties, moving from the milestone of market reclassification in global indices to broader institutional dialogue on trends influencing capital allocation, portfolio construction, and risk management.

The hosting of the “MSCI Institutional Investors Forum” falls within the Kuwait Stock Exchange’s knowledge and educational initiatives, which support its efforts to develop the capital market and enhance the preparedness of its participants. These initiatives, which include specialized programs and events, bring together listed companies, investors, and specialists with leading local and international institutions, addressing topics that align with the evolution of market instruments and the needs of the investment community.

The forum enables participants to access global research and institutional insights and to exchange expertise with investment leaders in the region, reflecting the Kuwait Stock Exchange’s commitment to enhancing financial literacy and market knowledge, and aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 4, “Quality Education,” and SDG 17, “Partnerships for the Goals,” of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.