Editor’s pick
ESG Data and Tech Summit Report: Coming to Terms with Climate Risks
Quantifying risks to assets posed by changes in the climate and companies’ transitions to meeting net-zero carbon goals are being baked into organisations’ risk-management workflows. What many had regarded as a conceptual risk has become an apparent one, as the increased occurrence of severe weather events caused by global warming have led to record levels...
Top Blogs
ESG Data and Tech Summit Report: Pivotal Year that Reshaped ESG
The past year was a pivotal one for ESG, with bold new regulations and political challenges emerging for market participants. But the biggest change may have come from financial institutions themselves as they signalled that sustainability had become fully embedded within their operations. No longer is ESG seen as simply an onerous obligation, it’s now...
ESG Insight Webinar Report: A Bumpy Regulatory Road Ahead but Riches Will Follow
ESG has placed companies within a “chaotic” new world of regulatory responsibility but getting sustainability right through data and technology will reward them and their investors with healthier bottom lines and larger returns. That was the message that rang loud and clear from A-Team Group ESG Insight’s first expert-led ESG webinar of the year, held this...
ESG Data and Tech Summit Report: The Art of Getting Data Right
ESG has become an integral, complex part of financial institutions’ workflows, making it crucial that they get their data and technology provisions right. But in this fast-changing part of the data ecosystem, what constitutes “right” isn’t easy to define. At A-Team Group’s second ESG Data and Tech Summit London last week, leading practitioners from the...
Latest briefs
ISS ESG and Qontigo Launch Joint Biodiversity Index
ISS ESG, the sustainable investment arm of Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), and index compiler Qontigo have created a jointly branded biodiversity benchmark timed for release on the United Nations’ International Day for Biological Diversity. The ISS STOXX Biodiversity Index Suite enables investors to align their portfolios with biodiversity impact targets and applicable UN Sustainable Development…
ISS Finds European Corporate ESG Disclosures Soared in 2022
Environmental metrics disclosures by European companies were up 45 per cent in 2022 compared with the year before, according to a study by ISS Corporate Solutions. Social metrics disclosures were 36 per cent higher, the study found. Corporate disclosures add to the body of ESG data on which financial institutions rely to make informed sustainability…
ISSB Calls for Feedback on Future Priorities
The International Sustainable Standards Board is asking the financial industry what its priorities for the next two years should be. The umbrella body for ESG disclosure standards organisations said it the four options were to focus on biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services; human capital; human rights; and, integration in reporting.
Finastra Offers Clients Alternative Data from Alygne
Financial technology provider Finastra is to offer clients alternative ESG data from Alygne. London-based Finastra said the partnership with the data-scraping specialist would enable investors to manage their ESG objectives through integration with its Fusion Invest tool.
Bloomberg to Host ESG Book Data
Bloomberg is to offer ESG Book content to its customers, providing them with company-reported emissions and other climate-related data. ESG Book, which is a collaboration between data provider and asset manager Arabesque as well as a number of major banks and financial companies, covers almost 10,000 companies in its datasets.
UK Opens Talks on Regulating ESG Ratings Providers
The UK has taken a step further along its programme of market sustainability reforms. In the Treasury’s latest update to its Green Finance Strategy, which was launched in 2019, ministers presented a consultation paper that proposes bringing ESG ratings providers under the gaze of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Further announcements indicated that nuclear power…
Bloomberg Launches New SFDR Tool for Asset Managers
Bloomberg’s fund manager clients can access a new tool enabling them to identify assets aligned with the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The dashboard-based offering is available through Bloomberg’s Terminal.
RepRisk Makes ESG Data Accessible from Snowflake Marketplace
RepRisk’s ESG risk data is now available on Snowflake Marketplace, giving sustainable market professionals easy access to the Swiss company’s content without having to adapt their internal processes. Through Snowflake’s platform, RepRisk says customers can be assured of data security, scalability, assessment and governance. Its data is collated from sources other than corporate self-disclosures to…
ISS ESG Provides US Cyber Risks Visibility for Sustainability Investors
ESG investors are now able to monitor companies’ cyber risks through a new service provided by ISS ESG. The ISS ESG US Cyber Risk Index offers clients visibility into which corporates face the highest risk of digital intrusion based on their cyber security provisions. ISS ESG, the sustainable investment unit of Institutional Shareholder Services, said…
Huge Differences in Data Costs Found
A study of ESG data costs has found that some asset managers are being charged six time more than others for sustainability data and scores. Substantive Research also found that index data could be as much as 26 times more expensive for some customers.
Eurex to Launch ESG Compass Clearing Tool
European derivatives exchange Eurex is to launch an ESG clearing tool next month that will enable customers to test their portfolios against a number of climate metrics and data. The ESG Compass will provide services initially for securities delivered as margin collateral and default fund contributions.
ESAs and ECB Call for Better Disclosures from Structured Products
European regulators and authorities have published joint statement calling for better climate-related disclosures on structured financial products. In the report, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) and the European Central Bank (ECB) said the lack of climate data on the securities’ underlying assets was of concern and needed addressing.
ESG Book to Provide Data and Tech to Korean Member of BDO
ESG Book, the sustainability information and scores provider backed by an alliance of large banks and institutions, is to supply data and technology to Korea’s BDO Sunghyun. The independent member of the global BDO accounting and tax advisory network will be able to access ESG Book’s raw ESG and climate data, company- and portfolio-level scores…
Latin American ESG Services Provider NINT Acquired by ERM
NINT, a Latin America-focused ESG research company that offers due diligence and other advisory services to financial institutions, has been bought by ERM. Rio de Janeiro-based NINT will provide assessments of sustainability-liked assets and support issuance and debt structuring expertise.
Clarity AI, CDP to Jointly Build Sustainability Tech Tools
Clarity AI and CDP are to jointly develop new technology products to help financial institutions to gauge their environmental impact. London-based Clarity AI, a sustainability technology platform, will use data from CDP in its Net Zero tool and will calculate the disclosure body’s Climetrics database for ETFs and funds.
Latest people
ESG Consultancy 7 Centre Launched by Orenda Founder
A new consultancy, 7 Centre, has been launched, dedicated to advising corporate and financial clients on ESG engagement and offering guidance on sustainability strategies and incorporation of ESG factors into decision-making processes. The company was founded by ESG thought leader Tanya Seajay, who created alternative data firm Orenda.
Persefoni Boss Mohin Chosen to Sit on FCA’s ESG Advisory Board
Tim Mohin, chief executive of data provider Persefoni, is among the sustainability-linked financial figures selected to help shape the UK’s regulatory response to ESG issues. The former Global Reporting Initiative chief will be joined by five other executives on the Financial Conduct Authority’s ESG Advisory Board. They include Harald Walkate, senior fellow at the Center for…
ACA Group Names ESG Veteran as European MD
The ACA Group has named former United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI) European director Marie Luchet as its new Managing Director of ESG. Luchet will lead the governance, risk and compliance adviser’s European operations. In her more-than 20 years working in ESG, Luchet also served as Head of Responsible Investment with ECOFI Investissements and…
More Names Added to Bring ISSB Team to 10
Four more members have been added to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), the IFRS Foundation’s recently created body that’s been tasked with hammering out an international framework for ESG reporting. They are Richard Barker, of the University of Oxford Saïd Business School’s sustainable business initiatives; Verity Chegar of California State Teachers’ Retirement System; Bing…
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: The evolution of enterprise data management for ESG – managing non-standard and unstructured data
Date: 18 July 2023 Time: 10:00am ET / 3:00pm London / 4:00pm CET Duration: 50 minutes The challenges of sourcing ESG data to meet investment and regulatory requirements are well rehearsed. Managing the data to accelerate sustainability performance is another step forward, with the need to evolve enterprise data management and integrate unstructured and non-standard…
FEATURED EVENT
ESG Data & Tech Summit London
The 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 Handbook 2023
The ESG Handbook 2023 edition is the essential guide to everything you need to know about ESG and how to manage requirements if you work in financial data and technology. Download your free copy to understand: What ESG Covers: The scope and definition of ESG Regulations: The evolution of global regulations, especially in the UK…
Top White Papers
How to Build an Efficient Enterprise ESG Data Strategy in Banking with Cloud and Machine Learning
ESG investing is now integral to financial institutions’ activities, motivated by client demands for sustainable investment options, regulatory obligations and a growing cultural shift towards ensuring that capital is allocated in order to do better for the planet and the people on it. Data is the magic dust that is enabling the translation of that...
Future-Proof Your ESG Data Strategy Across the Enterprise
ESG data is now as important to financial institutions as traditional price and reference data. Ensuring that data is accurate and consistent is critical so that can deploy it in their portfolio and risk management strategies as well as regulatory reporting systems. But ESG data is unlike that they would be used to. It’s often...
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...
Events and webinars
Recorded Webinar: Putting data management processes in place for MiFID II
The January 2018 compliance deadline for Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) is approaching fast, so how ready are financial institutions to meet the directive’s requirements, what data management processes should they be prioritising to ensure compliance, and what outstanding challenges do they face? Also, what do regulators expect firms to have in...
Recorded Webinar: Managing data, research and trading challenges in the countdown to MiFID II
MiFID II is a far-reaching regulatory directive, years in the works, but now just a few short months from taking effect on January 3. The European Union regulation will have global impact, in areas including unbundling payments for asset management research, allowing systematic internalizers latitude to handle more types of instruments, data management methods and...
Recorded Webinar: Artificial Intelligence in the EDM Era
The scope and scale of structured and unstructured data that financial firms must manage continues to grow exponentially, calling for innovative approaches that can deliver automated, accurate and timely decision making. Artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing are prime contenders to ease the enterprise data management burden, but what types of solutions are available, how...
Awards
A-Team Innovation Awards
Introducing winners of the A-Team Innovation Awards 2023. These awards celebrate successful projects within financial institutions (both with vendor support and without) across the financial enterprise.
