MSCI has hired Jana Haines as head of index and a member of its executive committee from ARK Invest.
Based in New York, Haines (pictured) will be responsible for developing and executing MSCI’s global index product strategy.
The firm said she will partner with senior leaders to manage index product development, including innovation across market cap, sustainability, climate, factor, thematics, fixed income and private asset classes.
The move marks Haines’s second stint at MSCI after she previously spent 14 years at the firm, starting as a managing director of client coverage in 2006, before leading index product for the Americas region and latterly expanding her remit to also cover EMEA index product.
After departing in 2021, she spent two years based in Florida as chief strategy officer at Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest.
Previously, Haines also held several trading and portfolio management roles at HypoVereinsbank, Ritchie Capital Management, NationsBanc CRT and the Chicago Research and Trading Group, as well as co-founding Private Equity Group LLC in 1998.
Commenting on the hire, Baer Pettit, chief operating officer of MSCI, said: “Jana’s extensive expertise in the global financial industry will be critical to MSCI building an even deeper understanding of our clients’ evolving needs for indices that help them build better portfolios and develop investable financial products.”
Haines added: “From diversification to decarbonisation goals, investors need differentiated, high-quality data and timely insights to confidently drive outcomes in an ever-changing world.
“MSCI is uniquely well-placed to serve these needs of investors through the creation and management of best-in-class indexes – and I am looking forward to leading the next phase of innovation at MSCI to help our clients make better investment decisions.”
Haines becomes the newest hire to MSCI’s upper ranks after the firm appointed Rob Matlock to its board of directors from VMware last June.
