Is the inclusion of Chinese A-shares in the MSCI a big deal?

We are not surprised that stock markets in China have barely risen in response to MSCI’s decision to include the country’s A-shares in its Emerging Markets (EM) Index. Admittedly, the initial inclusion is a little bigger than MSCI had previously proposed. But it is still very small relative to the total size of the market. And while the weighting of A-shares could conceivably increase in the future, that development – and its potential effect on the markets – is likely to be spread out over many years.