Editor’s pick
A-Team ESG Data and Tech Summit Debuts with a Message of Care
“He who cares wins.” If the many takeaways from A-Team Group’s inaugural ESG Data and Tech Summit in London last week could be summarised in one quote, it is that from Sean Taylor, Executive Director, Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management. The former military serviceman paraphrased the slogan of the UK’s elite army corps, the SAS, to characterise...
Top Blogs
Citi Head of Sustainable Finance Reviews State of Play on Achieving ESG Goals
Financial institutions play a critical role in global sustainability and are making progress in ESG investment, yet significant challenges remain, not least the need for more and better data, and a common regulatory reporting framework. Jason Channell, managing director, head of sustainable finance, Citi Global Insights, at Citi, discussed the strategic imperative for capital markets...
A-Team ESG Data and Tech Summit Debuts with a Message of Care
“He who cares wins.” If the many takeaways from A-Team Group’s inaugural ESG Data and Tech Summit in London last week could be summarised in one quote, it is that from Sean Taylor, Executive Director, Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management. The former military serviceman paraphrased the slogan of the UK’s elite army corps, the SAS, to characterise...
ESG Data and Tech Summit: Planet and Profit Depend on Getting ESG Data Right
Getting ESG data right is vital not only for financial institutions’ bottom lines and to meet regulatory obligations but for the very survival of the planet. The hard-hitting observation was made by Phillip Miller, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive at software manager Solidatus in a keynote address to the inaugural A-Team Group ESG Insight Data and...
Latest briefs
FNZ Invests in ESG Data Provider GIST for its Wealth Tools
FNZ has deepened its ties with GIST, making a “strategic investment” in the sustainable data and analytics provider to extend its own ESG offering to wealthy clients. The New Zealand-founded digital wealth management platform said the deal would help enrich corporate data on FNZ Impact, the company’s sustainable investment tool that links its clients with…
FIs Spending $1.4m on ESG Analytics, Disclosure
A new study that puts a dollar cost to climate-related performance reporting has found that the cost of gathering, analysing and reporting data by financial institutes is $1.37 million annually, while corporate issuers spend US$533,000 a year on disclosures. The report by The SustainAbility Institute by ERM for Ceres and Persefoni, also found that firms…
SS&C Incorporates Sustainalytics ESG Data into its Advent Platform
Sustainalytics’ ESG data will be available to clients of SS&C’s Advent platform under a new deal struck between the companies. The arrangement will see the Morningstar company’s data used by Advent’s portfolio manager customers, enabling them to combine it with financial data. Connecticut-based SS&C said the data will be available on its Advent Genesis Platform…
Schwab Offers MSCI ESG Ratings to Clients
Investment giant Charles Schwab is to make third-party ESG data available to its customers. The Texas-based financial services firm will offer MSCI ESG Ratings through its web-based research too and via relevant stocks’ Schwab Equity Ratings Report. MSCI’s ratings are designed to gauge a company’s reliance to long-term ESG risks.
ESG360 Provides Moody’s Clients with ESG, Climate Risk Exposure Measures
Moody’s Investors Service has created a new platform to provide portfolio manager with ESG scores and models on private and listed companies. Moody’s ESG360, is described as an “easy-to-use” service that will enable clients to better understand the short- and long-term ESG and climate risks exposures.
FCA to Require Board Diversity Disclosure
The UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will expect listed companies to disclose board and executive committee diversity metrics in their sustainability reports. The finalised rule is intended to give investors transparency into the race and gender makeup of management teams. Companies will be required to make the declarations in their reports for…
EU Moves Closer to Creation of Green Bonds
The European Union took a step closer to enabling the creation of verified green bonds when council members approved a list of requirements that issuers must satisfy to be granted EU Green Bond (EuGB) status. The council said its members had agreed that a registration system and supervisory framework for external reviewers should be created….
Xignite Builds Broker, Wealth Manager ESG API into ESG Book
Market data distribution provider Xignite has built an API to funnel ESG information to brokers and wealth managers connected to the Arabesque-managed ESG Book. California-based Xignite’s ESG API is also hoped to accelerate the creation of ESG-based financial products, it said. “If you do not offer ESG data and portfolio analytics to your clients today,…
ESG Forward to Feed Data Information to Sustainability-Focused Clients
A sustainability-focused content and education platform has been created to help financial advisers satisfy their clients’ demands for impact investment products. ESG Forward will feed data, blog posts, infographics and other information to advisers. The service was created by Boston-based communication and marketing firm Longview Strategies.
EIU Unveils ESG Ratings Coverage of 150 Countries
The Economist Intelligence Unit has launched its own ESG Rating Service for investors and consumers, offering scores on 150 countries based on 90 sustainability indicators. The service gives country-level historic rankings back to 2015 and lays out quarterly analyses of key trends. The London-based information provider said the comparability of the ratings would help clients…
Impact Cubed Unveils Fund ESG Assessment Tools
ESG data and investment aid provider Impact Cubed is now offering clients tools to measure and assess the impact of their fund holdings. The new addition to its automated platform also enables financial institutions to report their investments’ ESG performance to regulators. Additionally, pension funds, wealth managers and family offices will be able to keep…
TNFD Publishes Draft Framework for Risk Management, Disclosure
The first beta version of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures’ (TNFD) framework for risk management and reporting has been unveiled for consultation. The taskforce, an alliance that counts executives from Bank of America, BlackRock and Néstlé among its members, is dedicated to guiding corporates and financial institutions on making better decisions on activities that…
Sustainalytics Broadens its SFDR PAI Data Provisions to 13,000 Issuers
ESG research, ratings and analysis firm Sustainalytics has updated its data provisions covering key impact assessments necessary for European regulatory compliance. The company’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) Principle Adverse Impact (PAI) tool now cover 13,000 issuers. PAIs are a set of ESG impact tests against which financial institutions will be expected to gauge their…
Google Cloud to Host Arabesque’s ESG Book
Arabesque has put its free-to-access sustainability scores and database ESG Book into the cloud. The Germany-based data provider and asset manager selected Google Cloud to host the service, which was launched late last year and put together by an alliance of banks and financial institutions. Google Cloud customers will be able to access ESG Book via the…
ISS ESG Wins Contract to Supply Climate Data to Euro Central Banks
Institutional Shareholder Services’ ISS ESG has been selected to provide climate-related data to the German Bundesbank and potentially all other European Union euro area’s 19 central banks. The data will be used under a framework devised by the Eurosystem of central banks, enabling them to put in place a common position in climate-related investment principles…
Latest people
Moody’s Appoints Former ISS Director to ESG Role
Moody’s ESG Solutions clients can now examine how companies’ emissions targets align with global net-zero benchmarks via a new Temperature Alignment Data product. The launch came as the company published a report that showed fewer than half of 4,400 companies surveyed had set emissions targets and only 17 per cent mentioned “net-zero”. Meanwhile, Moody’s has…
PRI Names Former Board Member Atkin as Next CEO
The Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI), the United Nations’ body that’s drawing up guidelines for sustainable finance, has appointed former AMP Capital executive David Atkin as its new Chief Executive. Atkin will take over the reins from Fiona Reynolds on December 10. In a career that has spanned major Australian asset managers Cbus, ESS Super…
GoldenSource Hires ex-ION Director to Lead OnDemand Managed Service Solution
GoldenSource has appointed Xavier Gerardin, formerly lead of hosted services at ION, as global head of its OnDemand solution, a cloud-based managed service that provides hosting, technical and business assistance services for the company’s EDM clients. With 20 years’ experience in capital markets, including managing over 100 financial software programmes, Gerardin’s responsibility at GoldenSource is…
LSEG Names David Harris to Lead Sustainable Finance Product Team
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has named David Harris to lead its sustainable finance product team, part of the data and analytics division. Harris will report to Stuart Brown, group head of enterprise data solutions, and will build on ongoing investment in ESG and sustainable investment indexes, data and analytics products. Harris will also drive…
Kay Swinburne Named as Chair of the International Regulatory Strategy Group
Dr Kay Swinburne, vice chair of financial services at KPMG UK and former vice chair of the European Parliament’s Economics and Monetary Affairs Committee, has been named chair of the International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG). The role was previously held by former city minister Mark Hoban. The IRSG is focused on promoting regulation that encourages…
Former Teradata CEO Oliver Ratzesberger, Appointed Chair of OpenCorporates
OpenCorporates, provider of a large open database of companies worldwide, has named former Teradata CEO Oliver Ratzesberger as the first chair of its board. OpenCorporates has grown rapidly in the past nine years with its White Box company data attracting millions of visitors to its website every month. Users include financial institutions, government agencies and…
Asset Control Targets Buy Side with Nielen Hire
Asset Control’s appointment of industry veteran Stef Nielen is part of a renewed focus on the buy side, following a number of contract wins in that segment. Nielen, who joins director, strategic development, hails from Axioma, where he was sales director, and has held sales-oriented roles with MSCI and RiskMetrics, among other buy-side oriented suppliers….
Neudata Opens Shanghai Office, Hires China-Focused Data Strategist
After seeing an increase in demand for data scouting services in Asia, London-based independent data sourcing and research service Neudata announced today that it has opened an office in Shanghai and hired Helena Yu to manage its client data requests in the region. The Neudata Scout platform captures over 3,500 datasets across sentiment, social media,…
Featured
FEATURED WEBINAR
Upcoming Webinar: Approaches to ESG data for the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR)
Date: 14 July 2022 Time: 10:00am ET / 3:00pm London / 4:00pm CET Duration: 50 minutes The EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) outlines extensive rules designed to ensure transparency across sustainable financial markets. It also demands huge volumes of non-financial ESG data to be sourced, managed and governed, some of which is difficult to…
FEATURED EVENT
ESG Data & Tech Summit
The inaugural ESG Data & Tech Summit will explore challenges around assembling and evaluating ESG data for reporting and the impact of regulatory measures and industry collaboration on transparency and standardisation efforts. Expert speakers will address how the evolving market infrastructure is developing and the role of new technologies and alternative data in improving insight and filling data gaps.
FEATURED GUIDE
ESG Data Handbook 2022
The ESG landscape is changing faster than anyone could have imagined even five years ago. With tens of trillions of dollars expected to have been committed to sustainable assets by the end of the decade, it’s never been more important for financial institutions of all sizes to stay abreast of changes in the ESG data…
Top White Papers
Meeting the Data Challenges of Europe’s ESG Regulatory Landscape
The European Union’s ESG reporting regulations continue to evolve and represent the biggest recognition yet by any international authority of the role that financial institutions will play in the climate transition. The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the EU Taxonomy, the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSDR) are intended to...
Practical Data Strategies for meeting ESG Obligations in Financial Services
The ESG investing landscape is poised to become more defined, as competing definitions, standards and regulatory initiatives start to converge. The impact of ESG will be felt far and wide across the financial services community, which will face practical challenges in developing and implementing an ESG strategy that is both effective and avoids box-ticking –...
Exchanges Are Becoming Data Marketplaces
Exchanges and other trading venues have long derived revenue from sales of their data; in some cases they operate substantial businesses based around sales of their real-time quotes and other market data services. But few are well set up to deal with growing demand for other datasets they may generate from their core activities, such...
Events and webinars
Recorded Webinar: The Benefits of Advancing Client Data Management Capabilities
Managing client information is not a new challenge for financial institutions, and it is a challenge that continues to evolve. Bringing together different silos of client information into a single, holistic and hierarchical view to understand client risk and meet KYC and AML obligations is a common issue for financial institutions. Traditionally, client information is stored...
Recorded Webinar: How Financial Institutions can adjust to working in the New Normal
The very sudden impact of Covid-19 and resultant shutdown of physical sites has stress-tested financial institutions and vendors to their limits. Now banks and firms are slowly starting to re-open offices. But what will the new normal look like and what steps should you be taking now to make the most of this situation? This...
Recorded Webinar: Data management for ESG requirements
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing is moving into the mainstream, requiring asset managers to develop ESG strategies that deliver for both the firm and its investors. While these strategies can outperform those that do not include ESG factors, there is no clear route to success in an immature market that is only just beginning...
Awards
A-Team Innovation Awards
The winners have been announced in the second annual A-Team Innovation Awards! These awards celebrate successful projects within financial institutions (both with vendor support and without) across the financial enterprise.
