New York, NY - October 30, 2008 - MSCI Barra (NYSE: MXB), a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, including indices and portfolio risk and performance analytics, announced today an agreement with ClariFI, a Standard & Poor's Capital IQ business and leading provider of research and production workflow software and services, to integrate the Barra Optimizer into ClariFI's ModelStation platform.

Equity portfolio managers using ModelStation will have the option of choosing the Barra Optimizer for their portfolio construction and hedging process. The integration of the Barra Optimizer's innovative optimization techniques and fast, accurate results will help ModelStation users efficiently develop and execute new investment strategies.

"We are delighted that ClariFI has chosen to integrate the Barra Optimizer into ModelStation," said Roveen Bhansali, Managing Director and Head of the Analytics Business at MSCI Barra. "This means that institutional investors can access Barra's industry-leading portfolio analytics in a way that best fits their processes and systems, be it through our proprietary analytics software, integration with their internal systems, or via a third-party platform such as ClariFI."

Gioel Molinari, Founder and Managing Director at ClariFI stated, "We are happy for the opportunity to deepen our relationship with MSCI Barra through this integration. Adding support for the Barra Optimizer will allow existing and new clients to benefit from an expanded set of portfolio construction tools along with ModelStation's comprehensive data integration, alpha research, and production capabilities. This will create significant operational efficiencies and allow for accelerated research throughput."

The two firms expect the Barra Optimizer to be available in ModelStation in early 2009.

About MSCI Barra

MSCI Barra is a leading provider of investment decision support tools to investment institutions worldwide. MSCI Barra products include indices and portfolio risk and performance analytics for use in managing equity, fixed income and multi-asset class portfolios.

The company's flagship products are the MSCI International Equity Indices, which are estimated to have over USD 3 trillion benchmarked to them, and the Barra risk models and portfolio analytics, which cover 56 equity and 46 fixed income markets. MSCI Barra is headquartered in New York, with research and commercial offices around the world. Morgan Stanley, a global financial services firm, is the controlling shareholder of MSCI Barra.

MSCI Barra was recently named Index Provider of the Year at the European Pensions Awards and Best Provider of Benchmark Indices in Asia Pacific at the AsianInvestor Service Provider Awards.

Additional Information/Disclaimer

Press Contacts:

Sally Todd
Clare Milton, Penrose Financial, London
+ 44 20 7786 4888

Pen Pendleton
Patrick Clifford, Abernathy MacGregor, New York 
212-371-5999

Jennifer Kohler
ClariFI
857-383-5614
jkohler@clarifi.com

Michael Privitera
Standard & Poor's
212-438-6679
Michael_Privitera@standardandpoors.com