Boss of markets data giant MSCI slams ‘hysteria’ over pandemic

The boss of MSCI, the giant markets data compiler and rival to FTSE, has risked a storm of protest by suggesting state responses to coronavirus are causing unnecessary “hysteria”, declaring “it is not the Black Death”.

Baer Pettit’s remarks, branded “callous” by one client, emerge as hundreds of thousands of his clients’ employees in London, New York and Hong Kong work from home to protect loved ones and stop the pandemic.

Pettit, who earned a package of $5.4 million (£4.5 million) last year as president of MSCI, declared to more than 200 Facebook friends: “Yes, this is an unfortunate painful virus and sadly it will kill certain people. It is not the Black Death and it is not worth destroying the global economy in order to pretend that it is.”

Citing a news report that the UK death toll “soared” to 35, he wrote: “SOARED to a tiny number. I am sorry to be politically incorrect but the numbers for Italy are not that bad for a country of 60,000,000 of whom roughly 25% are over 65”.

“If Italians were shown in cafes walking around shopping and doing their business while those people were dying people would think entirely differently of it. It’s the empty streets and all the hysteria around that that is the problem.”

He said Public Health England data showed flu deaths vary from 28,330 in 2014/15 to 1692 in 2018-19, before pointing out the UK coronavirus death toll so far was only 35. As the leader of a business whose indices are used by investors to track $12.3 trillion of investors’ funds, the London-based executive’s views appalled them.

One fund manager said he risked damaging the financial sector’s reputation: “This is not the time to be sticking your head above the parapet in this way. Besides, the authorities could not have done anything else. You cannot just dismiss the medical needs of older people to favour the young.”

MSCI has a stock market value of more than $22 billion and its indices help investors compare the values of assets from Asian or European share prices to exchange traded funds.

Friends of Pettit said he had not meant to underplay the severity of the virus and MSCI was helping clients deal with the crisis.