IT has been three years since index constructor Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) announced that it would adjust its equity indices so as to take into account free float levels. Back then, there was some hand wringing among our stock market players over the possibility of Malaysia suffering an exodus of foreign funds.
This was because the shares of most of the local listed companies were tightly held. MSCI estimated that Malaysia's average free float (as at June 2000) was only 30 per cent, which put us right at the back of the pack.