The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) today announced that 17 ESG data and analytics providers have a licensing relationship
with SASB, increasing the options for investors to access comparable
ESG data that is linked to financial performance and enterprise value
creation. SASB continues to work with a range of organizations to make
it easier for investors to use ESG data aligned with SASB Standards
across a range of use cases, from due diligence and fundamental research
to investment strategy development and company engagement.
“Receiving
data that is aligned with SASB’s Standards across asset classes is key
to supporting the sustainable investment process, especially now as
demand for sustainable investment analysis is rising inexorably,” said
John Hoeppner, Head of US Stewardship and Sustainable Investments, Legal
& General Investment Management America. “This is progress towards
building the market infrastructure needed to support ESG integration at
scale.”
Among the more than 150 organizations
that are currently licensed to use SASB Standards, investors now have
more than a dozen choices of ESG data and analytics providers that
provide alignment with SASB. These data providers fall into different
categories: some source structured or unstructured ESG data to make the
data available as-is to investors, and some provide analysis or ratings
based on that data. In addition to ESG data and analytics providers
aligned with SASB that support public markets, there are several ESG
data and analytics providers aligned with SASB that support the private
markets.
“It’s a step in the right direction that so many data
providers—whose information is essential for investor
decision-making—are now making it easier to access SASB-aligned
information,” said Bruno Bertocci, Managing Director, Head of
Sustainable Investors at UBS Asset Management. “The goal is to supply
financially material ESG data that enables investors to make more
informed decisions.”
Some data and analytics providers have embedded SASB Standards directly into an offering available to all clients, including:
- Apex Group
- Arabesque S-Ray
- Fitch Ratings
- IHS Markit
- Integrum ESG
- Landmark Information Group
- Mercatus
- Preqin
- RepRisk
- S-Factor
- Trucost, part of S&P Global
- Truvalue Labs
- Verity Platforms
Others
have worked with SASB to map their ESG data to the SASB Standards, so
that investors licensing SASB’s intellectual property can use the
mapping to SASB Standards in the investment process:
- Bloomberg
- ISS ESG
- MSCI
- Sustainalytics, a Morningstar Company
“As
more data providers align with SASB Standards, it creates better
feedback loops between companies disclosing financially material,
industry-specific ESG information and investors using that
information,” said Ole Buhl, Vice President and Head of ESG at ATP, a
SASB licensee. “The feedback loops create a virtuous cycle as companies
disclose, it is easier for the information to be used, reinforcing the
value for companies to continue disclosing. This is key to the
development of market infrastructure, which can benefit all
organizations that use the SASB Standards.”
SASB identifies all licensing organizations on its website, alongside licensing profiles to highlight examples of how firms are using SASB Standards in their products and services.
About SASB
SASB
connects businesses and investors on the financial impacts of
sustainability. SASB standards enable businesses around the world to
identify, manage, and communicate financially material sustainability
information to investors. SASB standards are industry-specific and are
designed to be decision-useful for investors and cost-effective for
companies. They are developed using a process that is evidence based and
market informed. To download any of the 77 industry-specific standards,
or learn more about SASB, please visit SASB.org.
© SASB
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article