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The world of equity markets is a vast and fascinating place, with trends and insights that can help investors make informed decisions. Global equity market capitalization has been steadily increasing over the years, reaching a record high of $93 trillion in 2020.
One key trend in global equity market capitalization is the shift towards emerging markets. According to recent data, emerging markets now account for over 20% of the world's total equity market capitalization. This is a significant increase from just a decade ago, when they accounted for less than 10%.
The rise of emerging markets is largely driven by the growth of economies in countries such as China and India. These countries have experienced rapid industrialization and urbanization, leading to a surge in investment opportunities and a growing middle class. As a result, their equity markets have become increasingly attractive to investors seeking higher returns.
The largest equity market in the world is the United States, accounting for over 40% of global equity market capitalization. The US market is dominated by large-cap companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon, which have driven the market's growth in recent years.
Market Capitalization
Market capitalization is the total value of a company's shares of stock, calculated by multiplying the number of stock shares outstanding by the current share price.
Market cap can be broken down into categories, including micro-cap (below $250 million), large-cap, and mega-cap. Micro-cap stocks are considered some of the riskiest investments, while mega-caps represent the most established companies with large cash reserves.
A good market cap is relative and depends on your investment goals. Large-cap companies tend to be more stable and carry less risk than small-cap companies, which can offer big rewards if they experience significant growth.
What is Capitalization?
Capitalization is a key concept in understanding market capitalization. It's the total value of a company's shares of stock.
Market capitalization is calculated by multiplying the number of stock shares outstanding by the current share price. This means that if a company has a lot of shares, its capitalization will be higher, even if the share price is low.
A company with 10 million shares and a share price of $100 has a market capitalization of $1 billion. This is a significant amount of money, and it's a key factor in determining the value of a company.
Market capitalization includes all shares, whether they're available to the public or restricted to specific groups. This means that even if a company has shares that are not publicly traded, they're still included in the calculation.
Cap Segments
Market capitalization is often categorized into different segments based on a company's market value. Micro-cap companies are those with a market value below $250 million.
These companies are considered some of the riskiest investments, often with little to no track record and possibly no assets or revenue to report.
Mega-cap companies, on the other hand, are the largest and most established companies, often with large cash reserves that can help them weather economic downturns.
Developed markets represent the performance of established capital markets, which are the cornerstone of global investing.
The performance of these markets can have a significant impact on the overall market capitalization.
Enterprise Value
Enterprise value is a more comprehensive measure of a company's worth than market capitalization.
It includes a company's debts, assets, and cash, giving a clearer picture of its total value.
To calculate enterprise value, you need to consider more factors than just equity, making it a more complicated metric.
However, this complexity also provides a more accurate representation of a company's worth.
Enterprise value is often used to determine the price of a company if it were to be acquired outright, which is a significant consideration for investors.
Experienced investors can use enterprise value alongside other performance data to compare a stock's price to similar companies, helping them determine if it's undervalued or overvalued.
Index Construction
Our global universe of over 60,000 eligible securities is a complex landscape to navigate.
Indexes help map and categorize the stock market, making it easier to make better investment decisions. They serve as references for investment strategies, representing investable equity markets.
The Global Investable Market Indexes use a disciplined and replicable approach, governing the construction of Market Cap Indexes.
How We Construct Our Indexes
Our indexes are built to help you make informed investment decisions. We use a disciplined and replicable approach to map and categorize the stock market.
We have a global universe of over 60,000 eligible securities, which is a staggering number. This vast universe requires a systematic approach to identify the securities to include in our indexes.
Indexes serve as references for investment strategies, representing investable equity markets. They provide a clear picture of the market, allowing you to make better investment decisions.
Our N Indexes are designed to track the performance of the largest N securities of an underlying MSCI IMI index. This means they focus on the biggest players in the market.
The construction of our Market Cap Indexes is governed by a specific methodology, which is publicly available for review.
Acwi Imi
ACWI IMI is an index that includes large-, mid- and small-cap constituents across developed and emerging market countries.
The data provided by ACWI IMI is for informational, non-commercial purposes only, and users assume the entire risk of any use made of the data.
ACWI IMI data is provided "as is" by MSCI, which means it's not guaranteed to be accurate, complete, or original.
Users of ACWI IMI data understand and agree to these terms, and MSCI does not warrant the timeliness of the data.
ACWI IMI data is intended for non-commercial use, so if you're looking for data for business purposes, you may want to explore other options.
Index Methodology
Our indexes are designed to help you make better investment decisions by mapping and categorizing the stock market in a disciplined and replicable way. This approach allows us to identify the global universe of over 60,000 eligible securities.
Indexes serve as references for investment strategies and represent investable equity markets. They're like a roadmap for investors to navigate the stock market.
The N Indexes are designed to track the performance of the largest N securities of an underlying MSCI IMI index. This means they focus on the biggest players in the market.
Global Index Methodology
Our indexes are built from a global universe of over 60,000 eligible securities.
We use a disciplined and replicable approach to help map and categorize the stock market, making it easier for you to make informed investment decisions.
The Global Investable Market Indexes are designed to include the largest and most investable securities in the market.
N Indexes are a type of index that tracks the performance of the largest N securities of an underlying MSCI IMI index.
The construction of our Market Cap Indexes is governed by a specific methodology that you can view for more information.
Index Announcements
Index announcements are made available to the public through MSCI, where you can access announcements for their diverse suite of indexes.
MSCI offers a wide range of indexes, and accessing their announcements is a straightforward process.
Float-Adjusted
Float-adjusted market cap is a more accurate way to measure a company's market value. It's calculated using only the shares available to the general public, excluding locked-in shares held by institutions and government agencies.
Many major stock indexes, like the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, use float-adjusted market cap. Index funds and exchange-traded funds also rely on this calculation.
Float-adjusted market cap is meant to give a more accurate picture of how the market views and values a company's stock.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the market cap of all the money in the world?
The global market capitalization of all publicly traded companies reached $115 trillion in 2023. This represents a significant increase from the previous year, driven by rising equity issuance.
Sources
- https://focus.world-exchanges.org/articles/market-capitalisation-q3-2023
- https://www.dimensional.com/ca-fr/insights/go-global-for-diversification-that-travels-well
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/understanding-market-capitalisation-glance-109-trillion-global-vhudf
- https://www.msci.com/indexes/category/market-cap-indexes
- https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/what-is-market-cap
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