WeeFin has won the award for Best Data Management Initiative for ESG in the Data Management Insight Euro Awards 2024.
The awards recognise established providers and innovative newcomers who offer solutions that are providing leading data management solutions, services and consultancy to capital markets participants across Europe.
Winners are selected by A-Team Group’s independent, expert advisory board in collaboration with its editorial team.
We spoke to Marion Aubert, Co-founder and Head of WeeFin UK about the company’s success.
A-Team: What does winning Best Data Management Initiative for ESG in the Data Management Insight Euro Awards 2024 mean to you?
Marion Aubert: It is an honour to have been awarded Best Data Management Initiative for ESG this year. This award demonstrates the concrete impact of our platform and our vision for sustainable finance.
This distinction is particularly meaningful as it validates our fundamental conviction: efficient ESG data management is key to enabling financial institutions to achieve their sustainability ambitions. It recognises not only the technological excellence of our solution but also its ability to address the complex challenges faced by financial players in their transition towards more responsible finance.
This award also acknowledges the dedication of the entire WeeFin team to developing and improving our platform, as well as the trust of our clients we support on this journey. This award motivates us to go even further to offer increasingly innovative and high-performance solutions.
A-Team: Would you briefly explain what it is that WeeFin does within ESG and why it makes a difference.
MA: WeeFin stands out as a groundbreaking platform that enables financial institutions to implement and scale their ESG strategies across massive portfolios.
What makes us unique is our comprehensive approach to ESG data management. We’ve created the market’s most complete ESG data ecosystem, specifically engineered for financial institutions. Our platform serves as a single source of truth, ensuring that every team – from risk analysts to investment managers – works with consistent, reliable ESG data.
This unified approach eliminates a critical challenge in the industry: data inconsistency across departments and thus operational risk. By providing a centralised platform enhanced with specialised modules (controversy monitoring, shareholder engagement tracking, automated reporting), we ensure each team can access and analyse ESG data according to their specific needs while maintaining data consistency throughout the organisation.
Think of it as an industrial-scale ESG operating system: one platform that seamlessly connects all aspects of an institution’s ESG and impact operations. This systematic approach allows financial institutions to truly industrialise their ESG processes, making sustainable finance not just achievable but efficient at any scale.
Our solution transforms how financial institutions handle ESG integration – from data collection to analysis, decision-making, and reporting – creating a cohesive, reliable, and scalable ESG ecosystem.
A-Team: 2024 has been a busy one for WeeFin, receiving a fresh injection of investment capital and publishing your second impact report, among a number of highlights. What stands out most to you?
MA: The internationalisation of our activities is undoubtedly one of the most significant highlights. Our expertise is now recognised well beyond French borders, with a strengthened presence in the US (and the opening of our London office), Luxembourg and Italy, where we actively support clients in their ESG digital transformation. This expansion is reflected in our revenue, which shows a significant shift toward international markets.
Our European influence has also been demonstrated through a series of speaking engagements in strategic countries including the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany and Spain, confirming our expertise and ability to address sustainable finance challenges on a European scale.
I’m personally proud that we have opened our first subsidiary in London in April and already having impressive traction in the market. This achievement is proof that the ESG data management needs extend beyond European borders and its regulations, demonstrating that the demand is global.
In terms of impact, 2024 marks an important milestone with the publication of our second impact report, demonstrating our concrete commitment to sustainability. The establishment of our mission committee and the strengthened role of our Chief Impact Officer show our determination to structure and deepen our approach as a mission-driven company.
A-Team: You’ve been around for just six years and have already made an impact on the world of ESG data. What sets you apart from your competitors?
MA: WeeFin is the only platform in the market that allows financial institutions to deploy a customised ESG strategy at scale. It’s the most comprehensive platform.
We have developed the most complete single source of truth for ESG in the market, tailored for financial institutions. Our platform ensures that all teams, from risk management to investment decision making, rely on the same consistent and reliable ESG data. This eliminates discrepancies and guarantees coherence across various business functions.
Our platform [MA1] allowing financial institutions to deploy a customised ESG strategy at scale, ensuring consistency across their organisation. We help them industrialise their ESG operational chain: we aggregate our clients’ ESG data matched with their investments in a golden source relying on our internal matching algorithm, ensuring data quality and reliability. Other modules – custom calculations, monitoring controversies, stewardship, reporting – enable different departments to access and analyse data according to their needs. We empower financial institutions to industrialise their entire ESG and impact operational chain, by combining our two areas of expertise: technology and sustainable finance
A-Team: You play a substantial role in assuring data quality for ESG uses. Why is data quality so important, especially to ESG?
MA: In a context where sustainable finance is experiencing exponential growth, data reliability has become the cornerstone of responsible investment, directly impacting investment decision-making and regulatory compliance. Asset managers and financial institutions rely on this data to assess companies’ extra-financial performance, identify potential risks and detect investment opportunities. Financial institutions need reliable data to avoid making mistakes and face greenwashing controversies, potentially damaging the firm’s reputation.
The demanding regulatory environment, particularly in Europe, combined with the complexity of ESG data management, makes the ESG data quality an important issue because ESG data comes from multiple sources, follows diverse methodologies and covers a very broad spectrum of indicators.
A-Team: As a full-pipeline data services company, what part of ESG data utilisation do your clients find most difficult?
MA: One of the biggest challenges in ESG data utilisation is the collection and quality control of data, particularly ensuring consistency and accuracy.
Financial institutions face an overwhelming abundance of data sources and the complexity of managing them. Institutions typically rely on multiple providers, averaging five but sometimes extending to 20 or more. This creates a fragmented landscape of datasets with varying methodologies, formats, and coverage, making data collection and validation a resource-intensive process. As a result, ESG teams often spend more time managing data than analysing it or engaging with companies.
A key issue is the lack of standardisation in identifiers and hierarchical structures. The same security might be referenced using different identifiers, such as LEI, ISIN or CUSIP, depending on the provider. These inconsistencies complicate data reconciliation and force analysts to dedicate significant time to matching and aligning datasets manually.
Hierarchical disagreements between providers further exacerbate the problem. For example, one provider might classify a subsidiary under its parent company, while another treats it as independent. These differences complicate the consolidation of data, especially when tracking corporate events like mergers, acquisitions, or spin-offs. Continuously updating datasets to reflect these changes requires ongoing effort and adds to the burden on ESG teams.
Another challenge lies in the varying levels of data granularity. ESG data is often reported at multiple levels — securities, issuers, companies, or sovereigns — and ensuring that metrics are used at the appropriate level is critical. Cascading methodologies must aggregate or disaggregate ESG data correctly. Applying the wrong data level, such as using company-level metrics for specific securities, risks undermining analysis and reporting accuracy.
These challenges in data collection and quality management result in ESG teams spending a disproportionate amount of time reconciling and validating data, instead of focusing on strategic activities like analysing trends, engaging with companies, or developing sustainability strategies. This misallocation of resources limits their ability to derive deeper insights and take meaningful action on sustainability issues.
A-Team: Part of your USP is your ability to cross-reference so many databases and we see that more and more niche vendors are emerging. Do you see this data specialisation trend continuing?
MA: The evolution of ESG data providers has gone through distinct phases, reflecting shifts in market demand, regulatory pressures, and technological advancements.
There have been different phases in the evolution of ESG data providers. From 2018 to 2022, the number of providers grew rapidly, with new players entering the market to challenge the dominance of big names like MSCI, Bloomberg, ISS and S&P. These new providers started offering more specific datasets around new themes, and some even began using AI to enhance their products.
But over the past two years, we’ve seen a shift towards consolidation. Companies like MSCI acquired Carbon Delta and Moody’s bought Four Twenty Seven. More recently, MSCI and Moody’s have teamed up, partly due to a more competitive market and also because of new regulations that govern how ESG ratings are managed.
Other regulations have also shaped the data-provider landscape. For example, the EU SFDR and Taxonomy have driven data providers to develop specialised datasets to meet specific regulatory demands. Rather than bundling everything into a single ESG scoring module, providers are now offering standalone datasets tailored to each regulation.
In parallel, some regulations have played a big role in pushing data providers to evolve their models. At WeeFin, we’re connected to about 40 providers and every six months at least one of them informs us of a methodological change in their approach. For example, in France we have a national regulation called Article 29 of the Energy Climate Law, which requires investors to measure their exposure to climate risks and quantify the financial impact in euros. As a result, many providers have had to update their models to meet this demand. Previously, they only provided an exposure score, but now they offer more detailed insights to help investors comply with these new requirements.
Finally, another key shift is that regulations have pushed for more granular data. Things like Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, or gender pay gaps, are now central, forcing ratings providers to offer raw data alongside their scores to increase transparency.
While some believe that initiatives like the European Single Access Point (ESAP) could negatively impact the business of data providers, this is not necessarily the case. Standardising basic ESG data is a positive development, as it simplifies access to foundational information. It will likely empower investors to pursue innovative ESG strategies and encourage providers to develop new, niche datasets that address emerging themes. However, this specialisation must also align with evolving regulatory requirements, ensuring providers remain authorised and compliant with governance standards.
A-Team: Europe has one of the most developed ESG regulatory landscapes in the world, do you envisage a time when the entire global economy will be following similar rules, and when do you think that might be?
MA: As Europe leads in establishing comprehensive ESG regulations, with initiatives like the EU taxonomy and SFDR setting high standards, there is a noticeable impact on global regulatory practices. Countries such as the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, and Switzerland are adopting similar approaches, either by developing a taxonomy framework or by enhancing fund-level ESG disclosures. This global trend reflects a growing recognition of the importance of sustainable investment practices and the pivotal role ESG regulation plays in driving these initiatives.
Despite these advancements, even within Europe, there is no unified consensus on what precisely defines a “transitioning” activity or company. Questions such as how much of a company’s revenue or capital expenditure needs to be aligned with sustainable activities to be considered in transition remain open for debate. Similarly, the concept of an “impact” company is also not universally defined—does it require that 100% of a company’s activities be impactful, or is a significant portion sufficient? These complexities illustrate the challenges not just in establishing a universally accepted set of ESG criteria, but even in harmonising standards within a single region like Europe.
Rather than striving for a single set of global rules, a more practical approach would be to foster systems of interoperability where different regional approaches to sustainability are recognised and harmonised. This strategy would promote greater flexibility and better alignment with local and regional realities while moving toward shared global objectives.
Moreover, addressing the climate crisis requires collective action. It is a global challenge that mandates regulatory initiatives across all jurisdictions to encourage sustainable practices and place sustainability at the heart of debate and projects. By working together, countries can ensure that environmental stewardship becomes a universal priority, leading to more cohesive and effective global responses to environmental challenges.
A-Team: ESG data and the reporting of it still suffers from an absence of international standardisation. What challenges does this continue to present financial institutions and how can it be resolved?
MA: The absence of international standardisation in ESG data and reporting remains a significant barrier for financial institutions, complicating their ability to assess risks and make informed investment decisions effectively. Financial institutions must navigate through several ESG data sources, each characterised by different methodologies and scopes. This diversity requires substantial effort to verify and reconcile data, which is not only time-consuming but also resource-intensive.
Financial institutions are challenged by the fragmented landscape of ESG data providers, whose varying degrees of transparency and methodological clarity often require extensive due diligence to ensure data reliability. This process increases operational costs and complicates the effective integration of ESG factors into investment strategies.
The integration of heterogeneous ESG standards into financial analysis is operationally complex, driving up costs and requiring significant resources. This complexity hinders the effective use of ESG data in strategic decision-making and risk assessment.
To address these challenges, the financial sector could benefit from several strategic initiatives:
- Developing global ESG reporting standards that provide a consistent framework while allowing for regional adaptations could streamline data processes. This would require collaborative efforts with international regulatory bodies to harmonise the fundamental aspects of ESG reporting.
- Implementing advanced tech platforms can transform the management of ESG data by enhancing data collection, analysis, and reporting processes. These platforms can automate and streamline operations, making data handling more efficient and transparent, reducing the need for manual data verification, and enabling more accurate and faster decision-making.
- Regulators could help by issuing clear, actionable guidelines that outline essential ESG metrics, thus simplifying reporting requirements. These guidelines should allow enough flexibility for institutions to tailor their approaches to specific needs and contexts.
- Improving the understanding of ESG methodologies through increased educational efforts could also assist financial institutions in navigating the complex ESG landscape more effectively. Clearer insights into various reporting methodologies would enable better strategic use of data and more informed investment decisions.
A-Team: What sustainability themes are your investment clients intending to focus on over the coming year?
MA: Over the coming year, our investment clients are focusing on biodiversity, social issues, and tax transparency. For biodiversity, they are analysing granular indicators such as water pollutants, deforestation, and land artificialisation. Social issues are being shaped by frameworks like the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD), emphasising labour practices and equity in supply chains. Tax transparency is also becoming central, with significant efforts to collect and assess corporate tax data to address ethical and financial risks. There is a clear shift from broad ESG scores to more detailed, issue-specific metrics.
A-Team: What are WeeFin’s plans for the coming year?
MA: In order to become the premier ESG platform in Europe, over the next 12 months, we are focusing on both geographic expansion and enhancing our platform’s capabilities to stay ahead of evolving ESG requirements and market demands.
- Geographic expansion: we plan to continue to extend our presence in the UK and across continental Europe, both of which are key to our growth strategy as regulatory frameworks and market expectations around ESG continue to evolve.
- Platform enhancements: Expand the platform’s functionalities. ESG evolves quickly and WeeFin’s aim is to help our clients being leaders. We try to anticipate all ESG regulatory and sustainable best practices changes to offer them by anticipation in the platform.
This includes integrating more public ESG data sources, incorporating new regulations such as SDR, and enhancing our calculation capabilities to support advanced metrics like ITR Attribution, climate risk assessment, and more sophisticated ESG scoring.
These initiatives will help solidify our position as a leader in the ESG fintech space, empowering financial institutions to navigate and excel in the ever-evolving landscape of sustainable finance.
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