Looks like a number of fundsters still love indexer MSCI.

Just one week after Barron's applauded Vanguard for its $650 billion switch from MSCI to FTSE and CRSP, the scorned indexer was named the "benchmark of choice for international equity exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the fourth annual Greenwich Associates study, Institutional Investors’ Relationship with ETFs Deepens.

The study found that "88 percent of US institutional ETF users and 100 percent of investment consultants name MSCI as their benchmark of choice," according to the company.

Here is the press release:

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Company Press Release

MSCI Named Benchmark of Choice for ETFs

New York – July 3, 2013 – MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, announced today that it was named the benchmark of choice for international equity exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the fourth annual Greenwich Associates study, Institutional Investors’ Relationship with ETFs Deepens. The study found that 88% of US institutional ETF users and 100% percent of investment consultants name MSCI as their benchmark of choice.

"MSCI is committed to providing high quality indices to the investment community and this recognition is validation directly from the industry that not only are we doing the right thing by our clients but that the index matters,” said Baer Pettit, Managing Director and Global Head of the MSCI Index Business.

"The index is a critical tool for institutional investors. The Greenwich Associates study shows that institutions continue to embrace ETFs and, in turn, there will only be a greater emphasis on a funds underlying index."

Among the other key findings in this year’s report is the role the index plays when selecting an ETF. 40 percent of institutions ranked the benchmarks used in ETFs among the top three factors they consider when assessing individual products.

The results of the study are based on interviews with 179 US institutional funds interviewed between February and April 2013 and include corporate pension funds, public pension funds, foundations and endowments, and large asset management firms. For the first time this year, investment consultants, insurance companies and registered investment advisors were also interviewed.

 

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