Item 1A. Risk Factors

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You should carefully consider the following risks and all of the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. You should read the section titled “Forward-Looking Statements” on page 1 for a description of the types of statements that are considered forward-looking statements, as well as the significance of such statements in the context of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Risks Related to Our Business

We are dependent on third parties to supply data and software for our products and are dependent on certain vendors to distribute our data. A refusal by a key vendor to distribute our data or any loss of key outside suppliers of data or software products or reduction in the accuracy or quality of such data or products or any failure by us to comply with our vendors’ licensing requirements could impair our ability to provide our clients with the data, products or services they desire, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We rely on the accuracy and quality of third-party data and software products and depend on the ability and willingness of third-party data and software providers to deliver and support reliable products, enhance their current products, develop new products on a timely and cost-effective basis, and respond to emerging industry standards and other technological changes to produce and deliver our products, provide services and develop new products and services. Additionally, we rely on certain third-party vendors to distribute our data to clients. While some of our vendors generate revenue in connection with distributing our data, others do not derive a direct financial benefit. Should any of our key vendors refuse to distribute our data for any reason, we would need to find alternative ways to distribute our data, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

If the data and software products from our suppliers have errors, are delayed, have design defects, become incompatible with future versions of our products, are unavailable on acceptable terms or are not available at all, we may not be able to deliver our products and services and our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected. As of December 31, 2018, we relied on the data of over 200 suppliers, including large volumes of data from certain stock exchanges around the world.

Many of our data and software suppliers compete with one another and, in some cases, with us. Some of our agreements with data suppliers allow them to cancel on short notice and we have not completed formal agreements with all of our data suppliers, such as certain stock exchanges. From time to time we receive notices from data suppliers, including stock exchanges, threatening to terminate the provision of their data to us, and some data suppliers, including at least one stock exchange, have terminated the provision of their data to us. Termination of the provision of data by one or more of our significant data suppliers or exclusion from, or restricted use of, or litigation in connection with a data provider’s information could decrease the information available for us to use (and offer our clients) and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Although data suppliers and stock exchanges typically benefit from providing broad access to their data, some of our competitors could enter into exclusive contracts with our data suppliers, including with certain stock exchanges. If our competitors enter into such exclusive contracts, we may be precluded from receiving certain data from these suppliers or restricted in our use of such data, which would give our competitors a competitive advantage. Such exclusive contracts could hinder our ability to provide our clients with the data they prefer, which could lead to a decrease in our client base and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We also monitor our use of third-party data and software products to comply with applicable licensing requirements. Despite our efforts, our use of certain third-party data and software products has been challenged in the past and there can be no assurance that such third parties may not challenge our use in the future, resulting in increased data acquisition or software costs, loss of rights and/or costly legal actions. Our business could be materially adversely affected if we are unable to timely or effectively replace the functionality provided by data or software that becomes unavailable or fails to operate effectively for any reason. Our operating costs could increase if license fees for third-party data or software products increase or the efforts to incorporate enhancements to third-party or other data or software are substantial and we are unable to negotiate acceptable licensing arrangements with these suppliers or find alternative sources of equivalent data or software products. If any of these risks materialize, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our clients that pay us a fee based on the assets of an index-linked investment product may seek to negotiate a lower asset-based fee percentage or lower the total expense ratio of such products or may cease using our indexes, which could limit the growth of or decrease our revenues from asset-based fees.

A portion of our revenues are from asset-based fees and these revenue streams are concentrated in some of our largest clients, including BlackRock, and in our largest market, the U.S. Our clients, including our largest clients, may seek to negotiate a lower asset-based fee percentage for a variety of reasons. As the assets of index-linked investment products, including ETFs, mutual funds and institutional accounts, managed by our clients change, they may request to pay us lower asset-based fee percentages, which are sometimes calculated as a percentage of the relevant product’s total expense ratio (“TER”). Additionally, competition is intense and increasing rapidly among our clients that provide index-linked investment products, including ETFs. The fees providers of index-linked investment products charge their clients are one of the competitive differentiators for these managers with some providers seeking to win or retain business by charging their clients lower fees. As noted above, in many cases our fees can be affected by an increase or decrease in an investment product’s TER. A reduction in the TER or an elimination of TER may negatively impact our revenues. Additionally, our clients, including our largest clients, may seek to lower or eliminate AUM floors (i.e., minimum asset-based fee percentages) or impose or lower AUM ceilings (i.e., maximum asset-based fee percentages). Such changes in our fee structure could individually, or in the aggregate, negatively impact our revenues.

Moreover, clients that have licensed our indexes to serve as the basis of index-linked investment products are generally not required to continue to use our indexes and could elect to cease offering the product or switch to a lower fee index. For example, at least one large client ceased using MSCI indexes as the basis for a significant number of its index funds. Additionally, clients that license our indexes to serve as the basis for listed futures and options contracts might discontinue such contracts. We have a differentiated licensing strategy for our indexes and from time to time experience faster growth in lower fee product areas, resulting in a lower average asset-based fee percentage for licensing our indexes. While we look to maximize the price and volume trade-off over the long-term, there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so in the future. Results for any given quarter could be materially adversely affected by stronger growth in AUM in index-linked investment products with lower than average product fees not sufficiently offset by growth in AUM in index-linked investment products in higher than average product fees. In the instances described above, our asset-based fees could dramatically decrease, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Finally, to the extent that an asset manager finds it beneficial to offer clients multiple kinds of index-linked investment products based on the same indexes, a shift away from use of an index as the basis of one type of product may lead to a corresponding shift away from the use of the same index as the basis of another type of product.

If we are required to offer clients materially lower asset-based fee percentages with respect to index-linked investment products that generate fees based on the assets of such products or our largest clients cease to use our indexes, our revenues could be negatively impacted, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our business may be affected by changes in the capital markets, particularly the equity capital markets, and is dependent on our clients’ continued investment in equity securities as well as the measurement of the performance of their equity investment against equity benchmarks. If investment in equity markets declines, revenue attributable to our clients’ use of our indexes or Analytics products could decrease which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

A significant portion of our revenues comes from our products that are focused on various aspects of managing or monitoring equity portfolios. Our equity indexes serve as equity benchmarks against which our clients can measure the performance of their investments and are also used by clients as the basis for certain index-linked investment products, such as ETFs and mutual funds, for a fee based on the value of the investment product’s assets. The value of an investment product’s assets may increase or decrease in response to changes in market performance and cash inflows and outflows, which could impact our revenues. For example, cash inflows into an ETF may be offset by a decline in the performance of the ETF and vice versa. Asset-based fees accounted for 23.5% and 21.7% of revenues for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. These asset-based fees accounted

for 56.1% and 55.5% of the total revenues from our ten largest clients for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Our Analytics segment offers performance attribution and portfolio management content, applications and services that provide clients with an integrated view of risk and return of their equity portfolios. Additionally, equity models developed in our Analytics segment are used to construct MSCI Factor Indexes. A move away from equity investing could decrease demand for such products.

Volatile capital markets, which may impact whether investors choose to invest in developed or emerging markets, or in the U.S. or non-U.S. markets, as well as changing investment styles, among other factors, may influence an investor’s decision to invest in and maintain an investment in an index-linked investment product or lead clients to significantly deemphasize equity securities in their investment strategies, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. If clients decide to measure performance on an absolute return basis instead of against an equity benchmark, the demand for our equity indexes could decrease. While we offer products and services to both active and passive investment managers, an economic trend that significantly favors active investment could lead to decreased demand for index-linked investment products or equity based investment strategies, which could decrease our revenues. Accordingly, the value of assets in index-linked investment products can fluctuate significantly over short periods of time and such volatility may be further impacted by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. If we are unable to offset the impact of decreased revenues associated with our indexes and Analytics products, including by managing our operating costs, our profitability could be materially adversely affected. See “—Our growth and profitability may not continue at the same rate as we have experienced in the past for several reasons, including if our operating costs are higher than expected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations” below.

Any resulting failures, disruptions or instability of our information technology platform, electronic delivery systems, or the internet, including a cybersecurity breach or cyberattack, may result in reputational harm and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We depend heavily on the capacity, reliability and security of our information technology platform, electronic delivery systems and their components, including our data centers, and the internet to seamlessly provide clients with products and customer service. Heavy use of our electronic delivery systems and other factors such as loss of service from third parties, operational failures, sabotage, break-ins and similar disruptions from unauthorized changes (tampering, intrusions or hacking), human error, cyberterrorism, cybercrime, ransomware, terrorist attacks affecting sites where we are located, natural disasters, power loss, telecommunications failures, technical breakdowns, internet failures or computer viruses could impair our systems’ operations or interrupt their availability for extended periods of time. Our ability to effectively use the internet may also be impaired due to infrastructure failures, service outages at third-party internet providers or increased government regulation. If disruptions, failures or slowdowns occur with respect to our operations, including to our information technology platform, our electronic delivery systems or the internet, our reputation and our ability to distribute our products effectively and to serve our clients, including those clients for whom we provide managed services or to whom we distribute index and constituent data on a real time basis that is used to manage funds that replicate MSCI indexes, may be materially adversely affected. For example, we have in recent years experienced denial-of-service attacks. While we have been able to defend our systems against such disruptions and attacks in the past, there is no assurance that we will be able to do so successfully in the future or that our disaster recovery or business continuity plans will be effective in mitigating the risks and costs associated with the particular event that has occurred. While we have and continue to invest in risk management and information security measures, including employee training, disaster recovery and business continuity plans, the total cost of ongoing development and implementation may increase over time given enhanced government and regulatory scrutiny of the measures taken by companies to protect against cybersecurity breaches. Although we currently estimate that the total cost of ongoing development and implementation of our disaster recovery and business continuity plans will not have a material impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations, we cannot provide any assurance that our estimates regarding the timing and cost of implementing these plans will be accurate.

Any material breaches of cybersecurity or third-party reports of perceived security vulnerability to the Company’s systems, even if no breach has occurred, could cause the Company to suffer reputational harm, loss of

customers and revenue, regulatory actions and scrutiny, litigation or financial losses that are either not insured against or not fully covered through any insurance maintained by the Company. Any of the foregoing could lead to unexpected or higher than estimated costs and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. See “—Any failure to ensure and protect the confidentiality of data could adversely affect our brand and reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations” below.

Any failure to ensure and protect the confidentiality of data could adversely affect our brand and reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Many of our products provide for the exchange of sensitive information with our clients through a variety of media, such as the internet, applications and dedicated transmission lines. We rely on a complex system of internal processes and software controls along with policies, procedures and training to protect data that we receive in the ordinary course of business, including sensitive and confidential client data such as material non-public information and client portfolio data that may be provided to us or hosted on our systems, against unauthorized data access or disclosure. The Company may also be exposed to more targeted cyberattacks aimed at accessing certain information on our systems because of our prominence in the global marketplace, including client data, our ESG ratings of corporate issuers and the composition of our indexes. As a result of increased cyber threats and cybersecurity and privacy regulations, clients have increasingly requested additional security measures on the products we provide and details about our internal processes and software controls, policies and procedures related to security, processing integrity and confidentiality or privacy. Such requests may increase our cost of implementation and expose us to additional cybersecurity risks. If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, including any failure to implement required new or improved controls, if we experience difficulties in the implementation of our internal controls, policies or procedures or additional security measures requested by clients, if we experience cyberattacks that lead to a security or data privacy breach or if an employee purposely circumvents or violates our internal controls, policies or procedures, then unauthorized access to, or disclosure or misappropriation of, data could occur. Additionally, while we believe our internal controls, policies and procedures are currently adequate in protecting the confidentiality of data, breaches of confidentiality may still occur as a result of human error, particularly in connection with a more manual process for processing such data.

Such breaches, unauthorized access, disclosure or misappropriation may result in claims against us by our clients or regulatory inquiry or censure, which could, individually or in the aggregate, damage our brand and reputation and/or have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. If a failure of our internal controls, policies or procedures or a cyberattack results in a security or data privacy breach, we could also incur increased operating expenses to remediate the problems caused by the breach and prevent future breaches, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. See “ —Changes in government regulations, including the implementation of new or pending financial or operational regulations or the repeal of existing financial or operational regulations, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations” below.

Migration of our applications and infrastructure to new technologies, data centers and software could result in unanticipated interruption and delay in the performance and delivery of our products which could impair our ability to provide clients with products and customer service. Such impairment may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

We have experienced unanticipated interruption and delay in the performance and delivery of certain of our products after we migrated certain of our applications and infrastructure to new data centers. While we have taken steps to mitigate such interruptions and delays, we cannot provide assurance that they will not occur again in the future even after extensive testing of new software and hardware. We could also experience cancellations and reduced demand for our products and services due to such interruptions and delays, which may result in decreased revenues. We may also experience unanticipated interruption and delay in the performance and delivery of certain of our products after adopting new technologies and software, including cloud computing, virtualization and Agile software development, in place of more traditional methods of development and support. We may also incur increased operating expenses to recover data, repair, replace or remediate systems, equipment or facilities, and to protect ourselves from and defend against such disruptions and attacks. Accordingly, any significant failures, disruptions or instability affecting our information technology platform, electronic delivery systems or the internet

may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations and our insurance may not be adequate to compensate us for all losses, failures, or breaches.

We have confidentiality and conflict of interest policies in place regarding index composition decisions and have implemented information barrier procedures to protect the confidentiality of any material, non-public information regarding changes to and the integrity of our equity indexes. If our confidentiality policies, conflict of interest policies or information barrier procedures fail, our reputation could be damaged and our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected

We change the composition of our indexes from time to time. We believe that, in some cases, the changes we make to our equity indexes can affect the prices of constituent securities as well as products based on our indexes. Our index clients rely on us to keep confidential material non-public information about changes to the future composition of an index and to protect against the misuse of that information until the change to the composition of the index is disclosed to clients. We have confidentiality policies in place and have implemented information barrier procedures to limit access to this information and to prevent the unauthorized disclosure and misuse of information regarding material non-public changes relating to our equity indexes. These policies are designed to limit dissemination of information not only between MSCI and the rest of the world, but also within MSCI. We have conflict of interest policies in place to ensure that employees act with integrity, including not putting their own personal interests or financial gain above the interests of the Company and our clients. If our confidentiality policies, conflict of interest policies or information barrier procedures fail or we are delayed in implementing such procedures as necessary with respect to a newly acquired business and an employee inadvertently discloses, or deliberately misuses material non-public information related to one of our indexes in violation of such policies, our reputation may suffer. Clients’ loss of trust and confidence in our confidentiality policies, conflict of interest policies or information barrier policies and procedures could negatively impact our brand or reputation throughout the investment community, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Certain exchanges permit our clients to list index-linked investment products based on our equity indexes only if we provide a representation to the exchange that we have information barrier procedures in place designed to address the unauthorized disclosure and misuse of material non-public information related to our equity indexes. If an exchange determines that our information barrier procedures are not sufficient, the exchange might refuse to list or might delist investment products based on our equity indexes, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Rapidly increasing competition and financial and budgetary pressures affecting clients in our industry may cause price reductions or loss of market share, which may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We face rapidly increasing competition across all markets for our products and services. Our competitors range in size from large companies with substantial resources to small, single-product businesses that are highly specialized. Our larger competitors may have access to more resources and may be able to achieve greater economies of scale, and our specialized competitors that are focused on a narrower product line may be more effective in devoting technical, marketing and financial resources to compete with us with respect to a particular product. Some competitors may offer price incentives or different pricing structures that are more attractive to clients to expand their market share, and may also consolidate with one another or form joint ventures or other business arrangements, which could allow for a narrower pool of competitors that are better capitalized or that are able to gain a competitive advantage through synergies resulting from an expanded suite of products and services.

In addition, barriers to entry may be low in many of the markets for our products and services, including for single-purpose product companies. Low barriers to entry could lead to the emergence of new competitors. For example, more broker-dealers and data suppliers could begin developing their own proprietary risk analytics or indexes. Recent developments, including increases in the availability of free or relatively inexpensive information, advances in cloud computing and the increase in open source code, as well as proprietary software in specific areas, such as pricing, high volume computing, orchestration layers for services, and visualization, have increasingly

allowed free or relatively inexpensive access to information sources, which has reduced barriers to entry even further.

Financial and budgetary pressures affecting our clients, including those resulting from weak or volatile economic conditions, may lead certain clients to reduce their overall spending on our products or services, including by seeking similar products or services at a lower cost than what we are able to provide, by consolidating their spending with fewer providers, by consolidating with other clients or by self-sourcing certain of their informational needs. Accordingly, competitive and market pressures may result in fewer clients, fewer subscriptions or investment product licenses, including as a result of client closures and consolidations, price reductions, prolonged selling and renewal cycles, and increased operating costs, such as for marketing and product development, which could, individually or in the aggregate, result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. See “—Our clients that pay us a fee based on the assets of an index-linked investment product may seek to negotiate a lower asset-based fee percentage or lower the total expense ratio of such products or may cease using our indexes, which could limit the growth of or decrease our revenues from asset-based fees” above and Part I, Item 1. “Business—Competition” above.

To remain competitive and generate customer demand, we must successfully develop new and enhanced products and services and effectively manage transitions and product integrations. Failure to do so could limit our ability to maintain or grow current revenues, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We operate in an industry that is characterized by rapid technological change and evolving industry standards. Due to the highly volatile and competitive nature of this industry and the impact of technological change on our products and services, we must continually introduce new products and services, enhance existing products and services, including through integration of products and services within MSCI and with third-party platforms, and effectively generate customer demand for new and upgraded products and services. If, among other things, we fail to accurately anticipate or respond or adapt to evolving technologies and changing industry standards, if we fail to anticipate and meet the needs of our clients through the successful development of new products and services, if our new products and services are not attractive to our clients or cannot be integrated with third-party platforms, if our new products do not perform as well as anticipated, if we misprice our new products and services, if the launch of new products and offering of new services is not timely, or if competitors in any business line introduce products, services, systems and processes that are more competitive than ours or that gain greater market acceptance, we could lose market share and clients to our competitors which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We must make long-term investments and commit significant resources before knowing whether these investments will eventually result in products and services that satisfy our clients’ needs and generate revenues required to provide the desired results. For example, we have made, and need to continue to make, investments in our technology platform in order to provide competitive products and services to our clients. From time to time, we also incur costs to integrate existing products and services and transition clients to enhanced products and services, which also present execution risks and challenges. If we are unable to effectively manage transitions to new or enhanced products and services, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected. See “—If our products contain undetected errors or fail to perform properly due to defects, malfunctions or similar problems, we may, among other things, become subject to increased costs or liability based on the use of our products or services to support our clients’ investment processes, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations” below.

A limited number of clients account for a material portion of our revenue. Cancellation of subscriptions or investment product licenses by any of these clients could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, revenues from our ten largest clients accounted for 28.6% and 27.8% of our total revenues, respectively. Our revenue growth depends on our ability to obtain new clients and achieve and sustain a high level of renewal rates with respect to our existing subscription base and our investment product licenses. Failure to achieve one or more of these objectives could have a material adverse effect on our business,

financial condition and operating results. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, our largest client organization by revenue, BlackRock, accounted for 11.9% of our total revenues. For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, 95.8% and 95.3%, respectively, of the revenue from BlackRock came from fees based on the assets in BlackRock’s ETFs that are based on our indexes. A contract with BlackRock from which we derive a material portion of our revenues has a term which ends in March 2020 with auto-renewal for successive one-year periods unless either party provides advanced written notice of termination. If one or more of our largest clients cancels or reduces its subscriptions or investment product licenses and we are unsuccessful in replacing those subscriptions or licenses, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected. See also “—Our clients that pay us a fee based on the assets of an index-linked investment product may seek to negotiate a lower asset-based fee percentage or lower the total expense ratio of such products or may cease using our indexes, which could limit the growth of or decrease our revenues from asset-based fees” above.

Our growth and profitability may not continue at the same rate as we have experienced in the past for several reasons, including if our operating costs are higher than expected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We have experienced significant growth since we began operations. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain the levels of growth and profitability that we have experienced in the past. If we experience higher than expected operating costs, including increased personnel costs, regulatory compliance costs, occupancy costs, selling and marketing costs, investments in geographic expansion, communication costs, travel costs, application development costs, professional fees, costs related to information technology infrastructure and other costs, and we cannot adjust to these costs, our operating results may fluctuate significantly or our anticipated profitability may be reduced and our anticipated results of operations and financial position may be materially adversely affected.

Additionally, there can be no assurance that we will be as successful in our product development, marketing efforts, or capital return or allocation strategies as we have been in the past, or that such efforts will result in growth or profit margins comparable to those we have experienced in the past. See “— To remain competitive and generate customer demand, we must successfully develop new and enhanced products and services and effectively manage transitions and product integrations. Failure to do so could limit our ability to maintain or grow current revenues, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations” above.

We are dependent on key personnel in our professional staff for their expertise. If we fail to attract or retain the necessary qualified personnel, including through our compensation programs, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

The development, maintenance and support of our products and services are dependent upon the knowledge, skills, experience and abilities of our employees. Accordingly, we believe that the success of our business depends to a significant extent upon the continued service of our executives and other key management, research and product development, sales and marketing, product management, operations, information technology and other personnel. Although we do not believe that we are overly dependent upon any individual employee, our management and other employees may terminate their employment at any time and the loss of any of our key employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

If our cash and long-term equity incentive compensation programs do not adequately engage our key employees or are not competitive, we may lose key personnel. If we fail to attract, engage and retain the necessary qualified personnel, the quality of our products and services as well as our ability to support and retain our customers and achieve business objectives may suffer, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Any future expansion may place significant strain on our management and other resources.

Our expansion in the past and any future expansion, particularly in emerging market locations, has placed, and is expected to continue to place, significant demands on our personnel, management and other resources. We must continue to improve our operational, financial, human resources, management, legal and compliance processes and

information systems to keep pace with the prior expansion of our business. There can also be no assurance that, if in the future, we expand organically or by way of acquisition, our management will be effective in attracting, engaging and retaining additional qualified personnel, including additional managers or key employees, developing effective leadership in all our locations, expanding our physical facilities and information technology infrastructure, integrating acquired businesses or otherwise managing expansion. Additionally, new hires require significant training and may, in some cases, take a significant amount of time before becoming fully productive. Any failure to effectively manage expansion or to effectively manage the business could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. See “— We are subject to unanticipated costs in connection with political, economic, legal, operational, franchise and other risks as a result of our international operations, which could materially adversely impact our businesses” below, “— We are dependent on key personnel in our professional staff for their expertise. If we fail to attract or retain the necessary qualified personnel, including through our compensation programs, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected ” above, Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” below.

Changes in government regulations, including the implementation of new or pending financial or operational regulations or the repeal of existing financial or operational regulations, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The financial services industry is subject to extensive regulation at the federal and state levels, as well as by foreign governments, with some jurisdictions regulating indexes directly. These regulations are complex, evolve frequently, and are subject to administrative interpretation and judicial construction in ways that could materially adversely affect our business. It is very difficult to predict the future impact of the broad and expanding legislative and regulatory requirements affecting our business and our clients’ businesses. If we fail to comply with any applicable laws, rules or regulations, we could be subject to fines or other penalties. Additionally, we may be required to comply with multiple and potentially conflicting laws, rules or regulations in various jurisdictions, which could, individually or in the aggregate, result in materially higher compliance costs to us. It is possible that laws or regulations could cause us to restrict or change the way we license and price our products or could impose additional costs on us. Some changes to the laws, rules and regulations applicable to our clients could restrict our clients’ ability to use our products and services unless we change our products and services or could otherwise impact our clients’ demand for our products and services. As such, to the extent that our clients become bound by certain laws, rules or regulations, we may incur higher costs in connection with modifying our products or services at their request even in instances where we are not directly legally bound. To the extent that we rely on our clients and vendors to provide data for our products and services and certain laws, rules or regulations impact our clients’ and vendors’ ability or willingness to provide that data to us or regulate the fees for which such data can be provided, our ability to continue to produce our products and services or the related costs could be negatively impacted. There can be no assurance that changes in laws, rules or regulations will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. The regulations that most materially impact us are described below:

	•	Brexit. In March 2017, the United Kingdom (“UK”) triggered Article 50 and notified the European Union (“EU”) of its intention of leaving the EU following the UK’s June 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU (commonly referred to as “Brexit”). Negotiations on the terms of the UK’s future relationship with the EU have been ongoing, with the UK due to exit the EU on March 29, 2019 (unless an extension is agreed). Depending on the final terms reached between the UK and the EU, Brexit could lead to legal uncertainty and potentially divergent national laws and regulations that affect our business. As described below, our business, particularly the Index business, is subject to increasing regulation, and potential changes in EU regulation and/or additional regulation in the UK could cause additional operating obligations and increased costs for our business. In particular, we will need to ensure that post-Brexit we are licensed to provide indexes in the EU as well as the UK under each of the EU and UK benchmark regulations by the end of the transition period set out in the regulations (by January 1, 2020).

There is also uncertainty as to how the UK’s access to the EU Single Market and the wider trading, legal, regulatory, tax and labor environments, especially in the UK and EU, will be impacted, including the resulting impact on our business and that of our clients. Any such changes may adversely affect our operations and financial results because we have significant operations in Europe and certain members

of our senior management team are based in London. For example, changes in labor and tax laws which increase the cost to our staff of living and working in the UK or the EU, in particular changes that result in increased tax obligations or changes in immigration regulations, may impact the ability to hire and retain non-UK staff in the UK or UK staff in the EU. See also “— We may have exposure to additional tax liabilities in various jurisdictions” below. Additionally, any changes to the passporting or other regulations relating to doing business in various EU countries by relying on a regulatory permission in the UK (or doing business in the UK by relying on a regulatory permission in an EU country) could increase our costs of doing business, or our ability to do so. A change in such regulations, or other regulations, could increase our costs of doing business, or in some cases affect our ability to do business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

See also “— Our revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities are subject to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuation risk” for additional information on the impact of Brexit on our revenues and expenses that are denominated in British pounds sterling.

	•	Regulation Affecting Benchmarks. Compliance efforts associated with regulations affecting benchmarks and the related technical standards and guidance could have a negative impact on our business and results of operations. In particular, compliance could lead to a change in our business practices and/or our ability to offer indexes in certain jurisdictions, including the EU, including without limitation, by increasing our costs of doing business, including direct costs paid to regulators, diminishing our intellectual property rights, imposing constraints on our ability to meet contractual commitments to our data providers, or causing our data providers to refuse to provide data to us, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our equity and real estate index product lines.

Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 on indexes used as benchmarks in financial instruments and financial contracts or to measure the performance of investment funds was published on June 30, 2016 with effect on January 1, 2018 (with a two-year transition period until January 1, 2020). The regulation governs index development, calculation, dissemination, governance, maintenance and recordkeeping, as well as input data licensing, collection and dissemination. Additionally, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) issues guidance from time to time regarding interpretations of the regulation and new proposals to amend the benchmark regulation are in process. On March 5, 2018, MSCI Limited (a subsidiary of MSCI Inc.) was granted authorization by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority as a UK administrator for all MSCI equity indexes. The Company is currently implementing the EU benchmark regulation for a limited set of the UK MSCI private real estate indexes.

Under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 600/2014), where the value of a financial instrument is calculated by reference to a benchmark, a person with proprietary rights to the benchmark will be required to ensure that clearing entities and trading venues may license the benchmark and receive relevant price and data feeds and information regarding the composition, methodology and pricing of the benchmark for the purposes of clearing and trading. Access to such licenses and information will have to be offered by the benchmark owner within three months of the request and on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms that are no less favorable than the terms offered to other trading venues unless a different basis can be objectively justified. Compliance with this regulation is required by January 1, 2020.

On December 18, 2012, ESMA published guidelines on ETFs and other Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (“UCITS”) issues (ESMA/2012/832EN), which are updated from time to time by ESMA (“Guidelines”). The Guidelines limit the types of indexes that can be used as the basis of UCITS funds and require, among other things, index constituents, together with their respective weightings, to be made easily accessible free of charge, such as via the internet, to investors and prospective investors on a delayed and periodic basis. We have made available a client communication with respect to our policies as they relate to the Guidelines.

On July 17, 2013, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (“IOSCO”) published its final report on principles for financial benchmarks (“IOSCO Principles”). The IOSCO Principles cover conflicts of interest, benchmark quality and integrity, methodology requirements, procedures related to handling complaints, documentation requirements and audit reviews. The IOSCO Principles require benchmark administrators to publicly disclose whether they comply with the IOSCO Principles within

12 months of their initial publication, with such compliance subject to audit. We announced our implementation of the IOSCO Principles on July 16, 2014 and posted our adherence statements and audit results on our website in each of July 2014, 2015 and 2016. In 2017, we used those resources to implement the Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 and continued to rely on our 2016 adherence statements and audit results. We posted our explanatory note and updates arising from our implementation of the Regulation (EU) 2016/1011 in December 2017. For 2018, for our equity indexes, we posted our IOSCO adherence statement on our website in December 2018; and for our real estate indexes we continue to rely on our 2017 approach as we continue to implement the Regulation (EU) 2016/1011.

Additionally, on January 3, 2018, under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 600/2014), rules became effective in the EU that require sell-side firms to unbundle the costs of research, and separately charge buy-side firms for execution, investment research and other advisory services. MSCI is not such a firm, and we rely on our clients to determine whether their use of our products and services falls within the definition of investment research, and from which budget our fees are to be paid. The impact of these decisions on our clients’ budgets and the ongoing uncertainty around the application of the rules has led to and could continue to lead to delays in the execution of agreements and the potential loss of revenue in the EU, specifically for certain of our ESG Research products.

	•	Data Privacy Legislation. Changes in laws, rules or regulations, or consumer environments relating to privacy or information collection and use may affect our ability to collect, manage, aggregate, store, transfer and use personal data. There could be a material adverse impact on our direct marketing due to the enactment of legislation or industry regulations, or simply a change in practices, arising from public concern over privacy issues. Restrictions could be placed upon the collection, management, aggregation, storage, transfer and use of information that is currently legally available, in which case our cost of collecting, managing, aggregating, storing, transferring or using certain types of data could materially increase. It is also possible that we could be prohibited from collecting, managing, aggregating, storing, transferring or using certain types of data, which could materially adversely affect our ability to meet our clients’ needs. Most recently, California passed the Consumer Privacy Act (“CPA”), which takes effect on January 1, 2020. The CPA regulates the processing of personal data of all Californians and imposes significant penalties for non-compliance. The European Parliament adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) which took effect on May 25, 2018. The GDPR imposes enhanced operational requirements for companies that receive or process personal data of residents of the EU and includes significant penalties for non-compliance. In Japan, the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (“APPI”) was recently amended and came into effect on May 30, 2017. The APPI regulates the use of personal information and personal data of “data subjects” for business purposes without regard to whether such use is within Japan.

	•	Investment Advisers Act. Except with respect to certain products provided by MSCI ESG Research and certain of its designated foreign affiliates, we believe that our products and services do not constitute or provide investment advice as contemplated by the Advisers Act. Future developments in our product lines or changes to current laws, rules or regulations could cause this status to change. The Advisers Act imposes fiduciary duties, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, disclosure requirements, limitations on agency and principal transactions between an adviser and advisory clients, as well as general anti-fraud prohibitions. It is possible that in addition to MSCI ESG Research and certain of its subsidiaries, other entities in our corporate family may be required to register as an investment adviser under the Advisers Act or comply with similar laws or requirements in states or foreign jurisdictions. See Part I, Item 1. “Business—Government Regulation” above for additional information about similar regulations in other countries.

	•	Dodd-Frank Act and Other Financial Regulations. We may be materially adversely affected as a result of new or revised legislation or regulations imposed by the SEC, other U.S. or foreign governmental regulatory authorities or self-regulatory organizations that supervise the financial markets around the world. Uncertainty caused by political change in the United States and Europe (e.g., Brexit and the change in presidential administration in 2017 and congressional composition in the United States in 2018) heightens regulatory uncertainty. The enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act on July 21, 2010 had a significant impact on many aspects of the way in which the financial services industry conducts business. However, the full effect of the Dodd-Frank Act is still unknown given that certain rules and

		regulations promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Act have yet to take effect or may be largely repealed or modified. As a result of the regulatory uncertainty surrounding the Dodd-Frank Act, complying with its existing and future requirements could negatively impact the business, operations and financial viability of many of our clients which, in turn, could have a negative impact on our business and results of operations.

In some instances, in connection with the provision of data and services, we have incurred additional costs to implement processes and systems at the request of our clients to ensure that the products and services that they in turn provide to their clients using our data are compliant with the financial regulations to which our clients may be subject. To the extent that our clients are subject to increased regulation, we may be indirectly impacted and could incur increased costs that could have a negative impact on the profitability of certain products.

Our clients may become more self-sufficient, which may reduce demand for our products or services and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our clients may internally develop certain functionality contained in the products or services they currently license from us. For example, a number of our clients have obtained regulatory clearance to create indexes for use as the basis of ETFs that they manage. For example, on September 20, 2016, Blackrock received exemptive relief from the SEC to create certain indexes for use as the basis of ETFs that it would manage. Similarly, some of our clients who currently license our risk data to analyze their portfolio risk may develop their own tools to collect data and assess risk, making our products or services unnecessary for them. To the extent that our clients become more self-sufficient, demand for our products or services may be reduced, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. A growing number of asset managers and investment banks, in partnership with index providers that offer calculation agent services, or acting together with an industry group or association, have created or may create their own range of proprietary indexes, which they use to manage funds or as the basis of ETFs, structured products or over-the-counter derivatives. See “— A limited number of clients account for a material portion of our revenue. Cancellation of subscriptions or investment product licenses by any of these clients could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations” above and “— Increased competition and financial and budgetary pressures affecting clients in our industry may cause price reductions or loss of market share, which may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations” above.

Legal protections for our intellectual property rights and other rights may not be sufficient or available to protect our competitive advantages. Third parties may infringe on our intellectual property rights or we may infringe upon their intellectual property rights, which, in each case, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We consider many aspects of our products and services to be proprietary. We rely primarily on a combination of trade secrets, patents, copyrights and trademark rights, as well as contractual protections and technical measures, to protect our products and services. There is no guarantee that any trade secrets, patents, copyrights or trademark rights that we may obtain will protect our competitive advantages, nor is there any assurance that our competitors will not infringe upon our rights. Existing laws of some countries in which we provide services or products may offer only limited protection of our intellectual property rights. Despite our efforts, third parties may still try to challenge, invalidate or circumvent our rights and protections. Also, we may be unable to detect the unauthorized use of our intellectual property and take the necessary steps to enforce our rights, which may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our services and products, or the products of others that we offer to our clients, could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties. From time to time, we receive claims or notices from third parties alleging infringement or potential infringement of their intellectual property rights; and the number of these claims may grow. These intellectual property claims would likely be costly to defend, could require us to pay damages, limit our future use of certain technologies, may harm our reputation and prevent us from offering some services or products.

Pursuing intellectual property claims or responding to intellectual property claims, regardless of merit, can consume valuable time, and result in costly litigation or delays. We may be forced to settle such claims on unfavorable terms, and there can be no assurance that we would prevail in any litigation arising from such claims if such claims are not settled. We may be required to pay damages, to stop providing or using the affected products or services or to enter into royalty and licensing agreements. There can be no assurance that any royalty or licensing agreements will be made, if at all, on terms that are commercially acceptable to us. From time to time we receive notices calling upon us to defend partners, clients, suppliers or distributors against such third-party claims under indemnification clauses in our contracts. If any of these risks materialize, the impact of claims of intellectual property infringement could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Furthermore, our competitors may also independently develop and patent or otherwise protect products and services that are the same or similar to ours. Also, some elements of our products and services may not be subject to intellectual property protection.

	•	Trademarks and Service Marks — When we enter a new geographic market or introduce a new product brand, there can be no assurance that our existing trademark or service mark of choice will be available. Furthermore, the fact that we have registered trademarks is not an assurance that other companies may not use the same or similar names.

	•	Patents — Patent applications can be extremely costly to process and defend. There can be no assurance that we will be issued any patents that we apply for or that any of the rights granted under any patent that we obtain will be sufficient to protect our competitive advantages.

	•	Copyrights — We believe our proprietary software and proprietary data are copyright protected. If a court were to determine that any of our proprietary software or proprietary data, such as our index level data, is not copyright protected, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

	•	Confidentiality and Trade Secrets — Our license agreements limit our clients’ right to copy or disclose our proprietary software and data. It is possible, however, that a client might still make unauthorized copies of our proprietary software or data, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. For example, if a client who licensed a large volume of our proprietary historical data made that information publicly available, we might lose potential clients who could freely obtain a copy of the data. We also seek to protect our proprietary software and data through trade secret protection and through non-disclosure obligations with our employees. However, if an employee breaches his or her non-disclosure obligation and reveals a trade secret or other confidential information, we could lose the trade secret or confidentiality protection, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Furthermore, it may be very difficult to ascertain if a former employee is inappropriately using or disclosing our confidential or proprietary information. We have investigated suspicions that former employees have used or disclosed our confidential or proprietary information, but we may not be able to determine with certainty whether misappropriation has occurred.

Likewise, we cannot be certain that we are aware or in the future will be aware of every instance in which this sort of behavior may occur. Additionally, the enforceability of our license and other agreements’ non-disclosure obligations and the availability of remedies to us in the event of a breach may vary due to the many different jurisdictions in which our clients and employees are located.

	•	License Agreements — Our products are generally made available to end users on a periodic subscription basis under a license agreement signed by the client. We also permit access to some data, such as certain index information, through the internet under online licenses that are affirmatively acknowledged by the licensee or under terms of use. There can be no assurance that third parties will abide by the terms of our licenses or that all of our license agreements will be enforceable.

	•	Third-Party Litigation — There have been a number of lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions, including in the U.S. and Germany, regarding whether issuers of index-linked investment products are required to obtain a license from the index owner or whether issuers may issue investment products based on publicly-available index level data without obtaining permission from (or making payment to) the index

		owner. The outcome of these cases depends on a number of factors, including the governing law, the amount of information about the index available without a license and the other particular facts and circumstances of the cases. In some instances, the results have been unfavorable to the index owner. If courts or regulators or other governmental bodies in relevant jurisdictions determine that a license is not required to issue investment products linked to indexes, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. See “— Changes in government regulations, including the implementation of new or pending financial or operational regulations or the repeal of existing financial or operational regulations, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations” above. It might also lead to changes in current industry practices such that we would no longer make our index level data publicly available, such as via our website or news media, on a timely basis.

Our use of open source code could introduce security vulnerabilities into our internal network system, impose unanticipated delays or costs in deploying our products, or impose conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our products or keep them confidential.

We rely on open source code to develop software and to incorporate it in our products, as well as to support our internal systems and infrastructure. The use of open source code may entail greater risks than the use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims, the quality of the code or the security of the code. Despite our efforts and processes to prevent breaches of our internal network system through security patches and software updates, we are still vulnerable to cyberattacks launched by those seeking to exploit vulnerabilities in such code. Such cyberattacks could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Further, some open source licenses provide that if we combine our proprietary applications with open source software in a certain manner, we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary applications to the public. This would allow our competitors to create similar products with less development effort and time and ultimately put us at a competitive disadvantage. Additionally, the terms of many open source code licenses are ambiguous and have not been interpreted by U.S. courts. Accordingly, there are risks that there may be a failure in our procedures for controlling the usage of open source code or that these licenses could be construed in a manner that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our products. In either event, we could be required to seek licenses from third parties on terms that are not commercially feasible in order to continue offering our products, to make generally available (in source code form) portions of our proprietary code, to re-engineer our products or systems, to discontinue the licensing of our products if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely or cost-effective basis, or to take other remedial action that could divert resources away from our development efforts. Any of these requirements could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

If our products contain undetected errors or fail to perform properly due to defects, malfunctions or similar problems, we may, among other things, become subject to increased costs or liability based on the use of our products or services to support our clients’ investment processes, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our products and services support the investment processes of our clients, which relate to, in the aggregate, trillions of dollars in assets. Products we develop or license may contain undetected errors or defects despite testing. Use of our products or services as part of the investment process creates the risk that our clients, the parties whose assets are managed by our clients or the companies that we rate or assess in our ESG segment, may pursue claims against us for very significant dollar amounts based on what may be alleged to be even a small error in our data, methodologies or analysis or malfunction in certain of our products or services.

Errors or defects can exist at any point in a product’s life cycle, but are frequently found after introduction of new products or enhancements to existing products. We continually introduce new methodologies and products, and new versions of our products. Despite internal testing and testing by current clients, our current and future products may contain errors in our data, methodologies or analysis, serious defects or malfunctions. If we detect any errors before we release a product or publish a methodology or analysis, we might have to delay the product or index release for an extended period of time while we address the problem. We may not discover errors that affect our new

or current products or enhancements until after they are deployed, and we may need to provide enhancements or corrections to address such errors, and in certain cases it may be impracticable to do so. If undetected errors exist in our products, data, methodologies or analysis, or if our products fail to perform properly due to defects, malfunctions or similar problems, it could result in harm to our brand or reputation, lost sales, delays in commercial release, third party claims, contractual disputes, negative publicity, delays in or loss of market acceptance of our products, license terminations or renegotiations and/or unexpected expenses and diversion of resources to remedy or mitigate such errors. Additionally, any undetected errors, defects, malfunctions or similar problems in our products, data, methodologies or analysis could lead to significant failures, disruptions or slowdowns with respect to our product delivery to clients. The realization of any of these events could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. See “— Any resulting failures, disruptions or instability of our information technology platform, electronic delivery systems, or the internet, including a cybersecurity breach or cyberattack, may result in reputational harm and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.” above.

While we have provisions in our client contracts that are designed to limit our exposure to potential liability claims brought by our clients or third parties based on the use of our products or services or delay or failure to provide services, these provisions do not always eliminate liability resulting from the occurrence of any of these events entirely and may have certain exceptions that could result in the provision of credits, contractual penalties and adverse monetary judgments, or be invalidated by unfavorable judicial decisions or by federal, state, foreign or local laws. Any such claims brought against us, even if the outcome were to be ultimately favorable to us, would involve a significant commitment of our management, personnel, financial and other resources and could have a negative impact on our reputation or pose a significant disruption to our normal business operations. In addition, the duration or outcome of such claims and lawsuits is difficult if not impossible to predict, which could further exacerbate the adverse effect they may have on our business operations.

If we are unable to successfully identify, execute and realize synergies from acquisitions, or if we experience integration, financing, or other risks resulting from our acquisitions, our financial results may be materially adversely affected.

An element of our growth strategy is growth through acquisitions. As we continue pursuing selective acquisitions to support our growth strategy, we seek to be a disciplined acquirer, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to identify suitable candidates for successful acquisition at acceptable prices. In addition, our ability to achieve the expected returns and synergies from our past and future acquisitions depends in part upon our ability to effectively integrate the offerings, technology, sales, administrative functions and personnel of these businesses into our business. We cannot provide assurance that we will be successful in integrating acquired businesses or that our acquired businesses will perform at the levels we anticipate. In addition, our past and future acquisitions may subject us to unanticipated risks or liabilities or disrupt our operations. Any acquisition could present a number of risks, including incorrect assumptions regarding the future results of acquired operations or assets, failure to achieve assumed synergies or successful integration of operations and management, increased debt associated with acquisitions, dilution of our common stock, loss of key personnel and diversion of management’s attention from existing operations.

In the event that we experience a high level of acquisition-related activity within a limited period of time, the probability that these risks would occur would likely increase for that period. In addition, if we are unsuccessful in completing acquisitions of other businesses, operations or assets or if such opportunities for expansion do not arise, our future growth, business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Our revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities are subject to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuation risk.

We are subject to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuation risk. Exchange rate movements can impact the U.S. dollar reported value of our revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities denominated in non-U.S. dollar currencies or where the currency of such items is different than the functional currency of the entity where these items were recorded. For additional information on our foreign currency exchange rate risk, see Part II, Item 7A “—Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk—Foreign Currency Risk.”

We manage foreign currency exchange rate risk, in part, through the use of derivative financial instruments comprised principally of forward contracts on foreign currency which are not designated as hedging instruments for accounting purposes. The objective of the derivative instruments is to minimize the impact on the income statement of the volatility of amounts denominated in certain foreign currencies. Although we believe that our guidelines and policies are reasonable and prudent, any hedging instruments that we are currently party to or may enter into in the future may not be successful, resulting in an adverse impact on our results of operations.

To the extent that our international activities recorded in local currencies increase or decrease in the future, our exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may correspondingly increase and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Depending on the final terms reached between the UK and the EU, Brexit has and may continue to cause significant volatility in currency exchange rates, especially between the U.S. dollar and the British pound sterling. The weaker British pound sterling means that revenues earned in British pound sterling translate to lower reported U.S. dollar revenues. The weaker British pound sterling also means that expenses incurred in British pound sterling translate to lower reported U.S. dollar expenses. The weaker British pound sterling could also impair the purchasing power of our clients and could result in decreased demand for our products and services. The fall in the British pound sterling relative to the U.S. dollar, and the strengthening of the U.S. dollar relative to a number of currencies including the British pound sterling, could have significant impacts on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our indebtedness could materially adversely affect our cash flows and financial flexibility.

As of December 31, 2018, we had $2.6 billion of outstanding indebtedness in the form of senior unsecured notes (collectively, the “Senior Notes”). We completed a private offering of $800.0 million aggregate principal amount of 5.25% senior unsecured notes due 2024 (the “2024 Senior Notes”) on November 20, 2014, a private offering of $800.0 million aggregate principal amount of 5.75% senior unsecured notes due 2025 (the “2025 Senior Notes”) on August 13, 2015, a private offering of $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.75% senior unsecured notes due 2026 (the “2026 Senior Notes”) on August 4, 2016 and a private offering of $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 5.375% senior unsecured notes due 2027 (the “2027 Senior Notes”) on May 18, 2018.

We also maintain a $250.0 million senior unsecured revolving credit agreement (the “Revolving Credit Agreement”), which was undrawn as of December 31, 2018. The Revolving Credit Agreement is subject to an unused commitment fee of 0.30%. We recognized an interest expense associated with the Senior Notes and the Revolving Credit Agreement of approximately $133.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Although we believe that our cash flows will be sufficient to service our outstanding indebtedness, we cannot provide assurance that we will generate and maintain cash flows sufficient to permit us to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our indebtedness. Our ability to make payments on indebtedness and to fund planned capital expenditures depends on our ability to generate and access cash in the future, which, in turn, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow from operations or access offshore cash, we may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on or before maturity and we may not be able to secure additional financing on terms favorable or acceptable to us or at all. Absent sufficient cash flow from our operations and the ability to refinance, we could also be forced to sell assets to make up for any shortfall in our payment obligations. The restrictive covenants in our debt agreements, however, limit our and our subsidiaries’ ability to sell assets and also restrict the use of proceeds from such a sale. If we cannot refinance or otherwise pay our obligations as they mature and fund our liquidity needs, our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, ability to obtain financing and ability to compete in our industry could be materially adversely affected.

We may need to incur substantial additional debt from time to time under our existing debt agreements to finance working capital, capital expenditures, investments or acquisitions, or for other purposes. If we do so, the risks related to our level of indebtedness could intensify, including by making it difficult for us to optimally capitalize and manage the cash flow for our business or placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less indebtedness.

Furthermore, the terms of our debt agreements include restrictive covenants that limit, among other things, our and our existing and future subsidiaries’ financial flexibility. If we are unable to comply with the restrictions and covenants in our debt agreements, there could be a default that, in some cases, if continuing, could result in the accelerated payment of our debt obligations or the termination of borrowing commitments on the part of the lenders under our Revolving Credit Agreement. See Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” for a description of the restrictive covenants in our debt agreements.

A change in our credit ratings could materially adversely affect our financial condition.

Our credit ratings are not recommendations to buy, sell or hold any of our common stock or outstanding debt. Our outstanding debt under the Senior Notes currently has a non-investment grade rating. Any rating assigned to such debt is subject to ongoing evaluation by the credit rating agencies and could be lowered or withdrawn entirely at any time by such agency if, in the agency’s judgment, future circumstances relating to the basis of the rating so warrant. Such future circumstances include, but are not limited to, adverse changes to our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows, or revisions to our corporate strategy pertaining to capitalization or leverage. For example, on July 28, 2015, the Board of Directors authorized corporate action that led to a change in the Company’s target leverage and interest expense, allowing for the issuance of our 2025 Senior Notes on August 13, 2015. Following the Board of Directors’ authorization, one of the ratings agencies described the increase as substantially higher than current leverage levels and as a result downgraded our credit rating. This downgrade, and any further downgrade, could adversely affect the amount of capital we can access, as well as the terms of any financing we obtain.

In addition, our debt covenants contain certain obligations that are triggered by a change in our credit rating. The Senior Notes contain covenants that require the Company to offer to repurchase the 2024 Senior Notes, the 2025 Senior Notes, the 2026 Senior Notes or the 2027 Senior Notes, as applicable, in cash at a price equal to 101.0% of their par value, in the event of a change of control of the Company or disposition of substantially all of the Company’s assets. The Company is obligated to make such repurchase offer to noteholders if the following two conditions are met at the time of, or as a result of, such change of control or asset sale transaction: (i) the Senior Notes are rated below investment grade by each rating agency that rates the Senior Notes and (ii) the Senior Notes are downgraded by any rating agency.

Any adverse change in our credit rating could have a negative effect on our liquidity and future growth through transactions in which we rely on the ability to receive debt capital at an advantageous cost and on favorable terms. Accordingly, actual or anticipated changes or downgrades to or withdrawal of our credit ratings, including any announcement that our ratings are under review or have been assigned a negative outlook, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, and on the market value of our common stock and outstanding debt.

We are subject to unanticipated costs in connection with political, economic, legal, operational, franchise and other risks as a result of our international operations, which could materially adversely impact our businesses.

As we continue to expand our international operations, we increase our exposure to political, economic, legal, operational, franchise and other risks that are inherent in operating in many countries, including risks of possible capital controls, exchange controls, customs duties, sanctions compliance, tax penalties, levies or assessments, broad regulatory discretion and other restrictive governmental actions, as well as the outbreak of hostilities or political and governmental instability in certain of the countries or regions in which we conduct operations. A significant number of our employees are located in offices outside of the U.S. and a number of those employees are located in emerging market locations. The cost of establishing and maintaining these offices, including costs related to information technology infrastructure, as well as the costs of attracting, training and retaining employees in these locations may be higher, or may increase at a faster rate, than we anticipate, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Additionally, the laws and regulations in many countries applicable to our business are uncertain and evolving, and it may be difficult for us to determine the exact requirements of local laws in every market. Our inability to maintain consistent internal policies and procedures across our offices and remain in compliance with local laws in a particular market could have a significant and negative effect not only on our businesses in that market but also on our reputation generally.

Demand for our products and services is still nascent in many parts of the world. Many countries have not fully developed laws and regulations regarding risk management and ESG and, in many cases, institutions in these countries have not developed widely accepted best practices regarding the same. If we do not appropriately tailor our products and services to fit the needs of the local market, we may be unable to effectively grow sales of our products and services outside of the U.S. There can be no assurances that demand for our products and services will develop in these countries.

We may be exposed to liabilities as a result of failure to comply with anti-corruption laws and any determination that we violated these laws could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We are subject to various anti-corruption laws that prohibit improper payments or benefits or offers of payments or benefits to foreign governments and their officials and, in some cases, to employees of a business for the purpose of directing, obtaining or retaining business. We have business in countries and regions which are less developed and are generally recognized as potentially more corrupt business environments. Our activities in these countries create the risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments by one of our employees or agents that could be in violation of various anti-corruption laws including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the “FCPA”) and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010. We have implemented safeguards and policies to discourage these practices by our employees and agents. However, our existing safeguards and any future improvements may prove to be less than fully effective and our employees or agents may engage in conduct for which we might be held responsible. If employees violate our policies or we fail to maintain adequate record-keeping and internal accounting practices to accurately record our transactions we may be subject to regulatory sanctions. Violations of the FCPA or other anti-corruption laws may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions and penalties, and we may be subject to other liabilities which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We may have exposure to additional tax liabilities in various jurisdictions.

As a global corporation, we are subject to income taxes as well as non-income or indirect taxes, in the U.S. and various foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining our global provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities. In the ordinary course of a global business, there are many intercompany transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Changes in domestic and international tax laws could negatively impact our overall effective tax rate. In particular, Brexit could create uncertainty with respect to our corporate tax rate as well as the tax rates of our employees based in the UK.

We are regularly under audit by tax authorities. Although we believe that our tax provisions are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the final determination of tax audits or tax disputes will not be different from what is reflected in our historical income tax provisions and accruals. To the extent we are required to pay amounts in excess of our reserves, such differences could have a material adverse effect on our Consolidated Statement of Income for a particular future period. In addition, an unfavorable tax settlement could require use of our cash and result in an increase in our effective tax rate in the period in which such resolution occurs.

We are also subject to non-income taxes, such as payroll, sales, use, value-added, net worth, withholding, property and goods and services taxes, in the U.S. and various foreign jurisdictions. We are regularly under audit by tax authorities with respect to these non-income taxes and may have exposure to additional non-income tax liabilities.

Future changes in tax law could materially affect our tax obligations and effective tax rate.

The 2017 U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Reform”) was enacted on December 22, 2017, and significantly affected U.S. tax law by changing how the U.S. imposes income tax on multinational corporations.

Tax Reform requires complex computations not previously provided in U.S. tax law. Further, compliance with Tax Reform and the accounting for such provisions require accumulation of information not previously required or regularly produced. Our 2018 financial statements reflect the final adjustments to the provisional estimate of Tax Reform based on our interpretations of the current guidance. However, Tax Reform could be subject to potential amendments and technical corrections. The U.S. Department of Treasury has broad authority to issue regulations and interpretative guidance that may significantly impact how we will apply the law and may impact our results of operations in the period issued.

Our investments in recorded goodwill and other intangible assets as a result of acquisitions, including goodwill and other intangible assets resulting from our acquisitions, could be impaired as a result of future business conditions, requiring us to record substantial write-downs that would reduce our operating income.

We have goodwill and intangible assets of $1,826.6 million recorded on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2018. We evaluate the recoverability of recorded goodwill amounts annually or when evidence of potential impairment exists. Intangible assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the asset may not be recoverable. These impairment tests are based on several factors requiring management’s judgment. Changes in fair market valuations and our operating performance or business conditions, in general, could result in future impairments of goodwill or intangible assets which could materially adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, if we are not successful in achieving anticipated operating efficiencies associated with acquisitions, our goodwill and intangible assets may become impaired.

In connection with our initial public offering and separation from Morgan Stanley, we entered into agreements with Morgan Stanley where we agreed to indemnify Morgan Stanley for, among other things, certain past, present and future liabilities related to our business.

Pursuant to certain agreements we entered into with Morgan Stanley relating to the provision of services and other matters, we agreed to indemnify Morgan Stanley for, among other matters, certain past, present and future liabilities related to our business. Such liabilities include certain unknown liabilities, which could be significant.

Our business performance might not be sufficient for us to meet the full-year financial guidance or long-term targets that we provide publicly.

We provide full-year financial guidance and long-term targets to the public based upon our assumptions regarding our expected financial performance. For example, we provide assumptions regarding our ability to manage our expenses, generate free cash flow, achieve a certain effective tax rate and achieve our profitability targets. While we believe that our annual financial guidance and long-term targets provide investors and analysts with insight to our view of the Company’s future performance, such financial guidance and long-term targets are based on assumptions that may not always prove to be accurate and may vary from actual results. If we fail to meet the full-year financial guidance or achieve the long-term targets that we provide, or if we find it necessary to revise such guidance during the year or long-term targets over time, the market value of our common stock could be adversely affected.