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Oxford Academics to Probe Climate Data Quality Challenges
An academic study by the University of Oxford is probing the challenges associated with climate data used by financial institutions, including what constitutes good quality information. The research by the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group (OSFG) hopes to be able to establish a baseline for ESG data quality that will provide financial firms with the tools…
Data is Holding Back ESG Sleeping Giant Africa
Africa is shaking off its reputation as an ESG backwater. Major index compilers now offer ESG equities indexes, governments are encoding sustainable finance regulations and green investments are rolling in. Holding back the development of a flourishing sustainable finance market in this ESG sleeping giant, however, is the absence of good quality ESG data. While…
Why ESG Data Is the Key to Connecting Next Generation Investors
By Marion Leslie, Head of Financial Information, Member of the Executive Board, and Executive Board Lead for Sustainability at SIX Group. Last year saw record inflows for ESG in passive investing, as $391 billion poured into ESG ETF assets, up nearly 100% from 2020 and ten times as much as in 2017, according to Statista research. There is…
UK Turns Focus on ESG Data for Pension Funds
Pension fund managers and asset owners in the UK have become the focus of a number of government initiatives to address ESG data challenges facing the industry. The most recent is a taskforce set up by the nation’s Department for Work and Pensions that aims to identify reliable data and metrics on social factors affecting…
OS Climate Launches Free Tools it Hopes Will Transform ESG Decision Making
Competitors have become collaborators in a project that has created free tools to help financial institutions and other organisations gauge the sustainability performance of companies and assets. Banks, including BNP Paribas, and asset managers, such as Allianz, have contributed to the OS-Climate project, which aims to increase the easy availability of technology to help with…
ICE Broadens its ESG Suite With Urgentem Acquisition and Geospatial Tool
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is positioning itself as a full-service ESG data and analytics provider with two recent substantial investments. The Atlanta, Georgia-based financial infrastructure giant has bought climate risk data provider Urgentem for an undisclosed sum and unveiled its latest geospatial data offering for mortgage and other structured finance investors called ICE ESG Geo-Analyzer. The investments…
Accenture Invests in Data and Performance Start-up pulsESG
ESG data and performance management company pulsESG has received an undisclosed investment from professional services giant Accenture, which plans to offer the Silicon Valley-based start-up’s services to its own clients. The software-as-a-service platform helps organisations integrate their internal data and investor-facing systems to help track and improve their sustainability credentials.
Latest MiFID Update Adds to Firms’ ESG Challenges
Manufacturers of financial products are racing to complete their first ESG disclosures under MiFID II. While the amendment to the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive was announced in April last year, the fact that this latest regulation comes into force when the next iteration of Europe’s broader sustainability law is just around the corner has…
It All Comes Out in the Wash: Why Clean ESG Data is Key
By Kifaya Belkaaloul, Head of Regulatory, NeoXam. As ESG investing becomes a vital offering for financial institutions, there has been a marked rise in marketing efforts of these capabilities and subsequently an increase in accusations of greenwashing. Current allegations against DWS, Deutsche Bank’s funds arm, are gaining a head of steam, demonstrated by the resignation…
SFDR Seen Helping to Fill ESG Data Gaps
The European Union’s wide-ranging ESG regulation has imposed in financial institutions, huge data gathering responsibilities, many of which are a challenge to meet. But the requirements of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation are expected to actually help solve some of the challenges that currently make compliance difficult. In particular, SFDR is seen as a galvanising…