Gain a Competitive Edge in a World of Global InvestingAs equity investments have become more globally focused, the importance of industry sectors has increased and countries’ borders have decreased in importance. The Global Industry Classification Standard's (GICS®) universal approach to industries worldwide has contributed to transparency and efficiency in the investment process, and the GICS methodology supports trends toward sector-based investing. Sell-side research and reporting can be organized around industry data without geographic limitations. Additionally, GICS is a powerful tool to determine whether stock movements are locally based or part of a broader macro trend.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) was jointly developed by Standard & Poor’s and MSCI to meet the global financial community’s need for one complete, consistent set of global sector and industry definitions. First introduced in 1999, GICS has been adopted as the classification standard across all of the major investment disciplines: asset managers, institutional investors, consultants, and researchers and its methodology has helped pave the way for sector-based investing by providing transparency and efficiency to the investment process.Key Advantages
- Validate research and portfolio construction using a globally recognized classification system
- Take advantage of the global classification standard that investors, exchanges, research specialists and product developers worldwide have adopted
- Be confident that you are comparing companies within respective sectors, industry groups, industries, and sub-industries
- Effectively compare companies outside local markets
GICS databases are valuable tools for statistical analysis, backtesting, and historic sector performance attribution
GICS DirectSM by Standard & Poor’s and MSCI, provides more than 40,000 active company classifications and covers over 45,000 active global securities in accordance with Standard & Poor’s and MSCI's proprietary Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS). The product includes the current classification for active companies in more than 120 countries. Learn more.
GICS Historical Databases
The GICS Historical databases—GICS North America History & GICS International History—are available as add-on products and provide historical company-level global industry classification codes. These products are built upon the foundation of the Compustat databases,and provide GICS codes for companies in developed and emerging markets, both active and inactive. The amount of history varies by company, with the earliest start date being 1985. Learn more.
Other Resources
Learn more about the GICS structure, download the GICS Map Book brochure
GICS Direct, a joint product of Standard & Poor's and MSCI, provides the current, company-level GICS classification code for more than 40,000 companies worldwide. The historical GICS codes in Standard & Poor's GICS History are assigned by Standard & Poor's. The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) was developed by, and is the exclusive property of, Standard & Poor's and MSCI. *GICS is the trademark of Standard & Poor's and MSCI. *Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) and GICS Direct are service marks of Standard & Poor's and MSCI.