Which Countries Control The Global Stock Market?

Ted

FYI: Below is an updated look at the current makeup of the global stock market by country. Using Bloomberg data, we’ve constructed a table showing the percentage of global market cap that each country (the largest 25) currently makes up. We also show where the percentages stood at the end of 2014, five years ago, and ten years ago.

In analyzing the table, you’ll see that the US stock market makes up 36% of world market cap. This is down 1.48 percentage points since the start of the year, up 5.6 percentage points over the last five years, and down 5.11 percentage points over the last ten years
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bespokepremium.com/think-big-blog/which-countries-control-the-global-stock-market/

LLJB

I'm always a little unsure about how to think about asset allocation when you read about global market cap numbers. If you use MSCI indices to estimate global market cap the US is more than 50% of global market cap whereas Bloomberg data says the US is only 36%. The difference, I believe, is that MSCI's number only include free-floating market cap whereas others include "everything". For instance, I think that means MSCI excludes China's A shares (so far), and they don't include Saudi Arabia, which Bloomberg includes.

All of that is fine and well, but when we think about our portfolios and asset allocation, should we think about the US being 50+% of global market cap or only 36%? Or would it be better to use GDP numbers?