A systematic study of the ground state geometries, electronic structure, and stability of the metal ͑M͒ encapsulated MSi 12 ͑M = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni͒ clusters has been carried out within a gradientcorrected density functional formalism. It is shown that the ground state of most MSi 12 clusters has the lowest spin multiplicity as opposed to the high spin multiplicity in free transition metal atoms. Consequently, a proper inclusion of the spin conservation rules is needed to understand the variation of the binding energy of M to Si 12 clusters. Using such rules, CrSi 12 and FeSi 12 are found to exhibit the highest binding energy across the neutral while VSi 12 − has the highest binding energy across the anionic MSi 12 − series. It is shown that the variations in binding energy, electron affinity, and ionization potential can be rationalized within an 18-electron sum rule commonly used to understand the stability of chemical complexes and shell filling in a confined free-electron gas.