Arbitrage Opportunities from MSCI Index Reconstitutions In Asian Stock Markets

Using the reconstitution of MSCI indices in seven Asian markets from 2006 to 2021, we discover arbitrage opportunities arising from index-tracking funds’ efforts to minimize tracking errors around the dates when index reconstitution changes become effective (i.e., effective dates). We document pronounced abnormal returns and trading volume on the last trading day before the effective date. Arbitrageurs can exploit this predictable pattern of stock price changes and earn sizable abnormal returns if they long the added and short the deleted stocks on the announcement date and close their positions at the end of the day before the effective date. Additional analysis reveals how index-tracking investors and arbitragers trade against each other to shape stock prices and equity-lending activities around MSCI index reconstitutions