Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Inc. has added two more Kenyan-listed firms to its frontier markets indices, bringing the visibility of the stocks to foreign investors.
The global investment advisory firm in its latest index review for global markets, added CIC Insurance Group Plc and Williamson Tea Kenya Plc in its MSCI Frontier Small Cap Index.
The increased number of NSE-listed stocks on the global indexes is expected to increase the visibility of the counters to foreigners, particularly those relying on indexes to invest in emerging and frontier markets such as Kenya.
MSCI is a leading provider of services for the global investment community, enabling investors to understand and review key drivers for their portfolios across markets in both advanced and frontier markets.
This comes amid reduced participation of foreign investors at NSE, whose valuation moved above Sh3 trillion for the first time on the back of increased activity by local institutional investors.
The MSCI has added seven NSE-listed stocks to its index in the past year. The six counters, including Kenya Power, Carbacid Investments Plc, Bamburi Cement Plc and Housing Finance, have been added to the small-cap index in the year.
Standard Chartered Bank joined the MSCI main frontier market index that had Safaricom Plc, Equity Group Holdings, KCB Group Plc, East Africa Breweries Plc and Cooperative Bank of Kenya.
The MSCI Frontier Markets Small Cap Index captures small-cap representation across 28 frontier market countries.
The NSE on Thursday closed above Sh3 trillion for the first time in the wake of a rally that began last year and was then turbocharged by Safaricom’s profit announcement.
The value of all stocks at NSE rose to Sh3.044 trillion at the close of the trading session up from Sh2.991 trillion on Wednesday (October 5).
Analysts say the 2025 market rally has ridden on the back of lower returns on fixed income assets, including Treasury bills and bonds.
This has pushed investors to pour cash into shares, with the NSE posting a return of 56.9 percent since the start of the year and increasing equity owners’ paper wealth by Sh1.1 trillion.
The return beats other assets like bonds, real estate and fixed bank deposits.
On Thursday, Safaricom and KCB helped lift the market above the Sh3 trillion mark after threatening for days to hit the milestone.
