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Introduction and Basis of Presentation
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Introduction and Basis of Presentation

1. INTRODUCTION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

MSCI Inc., together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries (the “Company” or “MSCI”), provides mission-critical investment decision support tools, including indexes; portfolio construction and risk management products and services; Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) research and ratings; and real estate research, reporting and benchmarking offerings.  MSCI’s research-derived intellectual property includes methodologies, models, derived data and algorithms, as well as applications and services, which help its clients manage their investment processes and address their investment, risk and regulatory challenges.

Basis of Presentation and Use of Estimates

These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of MSCI Inc. and its subsidiaries and include all adjustments of a normal, recurring nature necessary to state fairly the financial condition as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the results of operations and comprehensive income for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017. The unaudited condensed consolidated statement of financial condition and related financial statement information as of December 31, 2017 have been derived from the 2017 audited consolidated financial statements but do not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes included in MSCI’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.  The results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the entire year.

The Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. These accounting principles require the Company to make certain estimates and judgments that can affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the periods presented. Significant estimates and assumptions made by management include the deferral and recognition of revenue, research and development and software capitalization, impairment of long-lived assets, accrued compensation, income taxes and other matters that affect the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. The Company believes that estimates used in the preparation of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements are reasonable; however, actual results could differ materially from these estimates. Intercompany balances and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

Concentrations

For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, BlackRock, Inc. accounted for 12.9% and 10.3% of the Company’s consolidated operating revenues, respectively. For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, BlackRock, Inc. accounted for 22.1% and 18.6% of the Index segment operating revenues, respectively. No single customer represented 10.0% or more of revenues within the Analytics and All Other segments for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017.