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The Growing Importance of ESG Ratings for Issuers
The Growing Importance of ESG Ratings for Issuers
Institutional investors are increasingly integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) and climate considerations into their investment decision-making processes. In particular, for those interested in achieving long term value creation, ESG performance may be viewed as an indication of management quality. Evidence of this shift toward ESG integration can be found in the number of asset owners and asset managers that are signatories to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) – a set of principles that outline specific investor commitments to ESG integration. Now in its eleventh year, the PRI has garnered over 3,400 signatories representing more than $100 trillion in assets under management, including many of the largest global asset owners and asset managers.1
In addition to using ESG research and ratings to inform investment decisions, institutional investors are also using ESG research and data to inform engagement strategies, through analyst meetings with companies and through more formal shareholder engagement processes. For example, in the 2020 U.S. proxy season more than 400 ESG shareholder resolutions were filed, many with a focus on climate change and workforce issues like human capital, talent, and diversity.2
Given these trends, it has become ever more important for publicly traded companies to understand not only the ESG research and ratings that institutional investors are using to inform their investment decisions and engagement questions, but also the ESG performance of industry peers and competitors.
DEDICATED ONLINE ISSUER PORTAL
Issuers may login to our ESG Issuer portal to access their ESG Research reports at any time and make changes to their designated contact. In case of any login issues, read the user guide to troubleshoot. If the problem persists, please reach out to ESG Issuer Communications.
MSCI ESG RATINGS BADGES
Issuers can request their MSCI ESG Ratings badge (AAA-CCC) to add to their materials (annual report, sustainability report, investor presentations, corporate website etc). Click here to complete the online form and agree to the terms and conditions. Upon submitting a complete application, an MSCI representative will share the relevant ESG Rating logo with you, along with the How to Reference an MSCI ESG Rating Guide.
About MSCI ESG Research
MSCI ESG Research provides in-depth research, ratings and analysis of the environmental, social and governance-related business practices of more than 8,500 companies (14,000 issuers including subsidiaries) and more than 680,000 equity and fixed income securities globally. Our research, data and indexes are used by over 1,700 investors worldwide1 to integrate ESG factors into their investment processes and to create investment products.
The MSCI ESG Research team consists of over 250 ESG specialists worldwide, including more than 150 dedicated ESG analysts and researchers.
Learn more:
- What is an MSCI ESG Rating?
- ESG Ratings Company Search Tool
- ESG Industry Materiality Map
- MSCI ESG Ratings Methodology Summary Guide
1Clients of MSCI ESG Research LLC and its affiliates as of October 2020
About MSCI ESG Indexes
MSCI’s suite of over 1500 equity and fixed income ESG indexes3 utilizes our award-winning ESG data and ratings on thousands of companies worldwide. Institutional investors interested in sustainable investing can use these industry-leading indexes to benchmark ESG investment performance, create index-based ESG investment products, and manage and report on compliance with ESG mandates.
- To find out if your company is a member of one of our ESG Indexes or to request an MSCI ESG Index logo to use in company reporting, please contact the MSCI Index team.
- ESG Index FAQs.
Our ESG Issuer Communications Commitment
MSCI ESG Research is committed to robust and transparent engagement with all issuers in our coverage universe. This commitment includes:
- Establishment of a dedicated ESG Issuer Communications team
- All issuers receive complimentary copies of their MSCI ESG Research company reports
- All issuers are invited to participate in our company data review process
- Timely responses to company inquiries and feedback
Resources
ESG Issuer Communications Portal
- General FAQs
- ESG Index FAQs
- Factsheet: ESG Ratings and Research for issuers and their advisors
- How to Reference an MSCI ESG Rating Guide
- MSCI ESG Ratings Methodology Summary Guide
- MSCI ESG Governance Metrics Methodology Summary Guide
- MSCI ESG AGR Methodology Summary Guide
- MSCI ESG Controversies and Global Norms Methodology Summary Guide
- MSCI ESG BISR Methodology Summary Guide
Contact us
Contact us:
- Please send all corporate queries to: esgissuercomm@msci.com
- Get in touch to learn more about our ESG Solutions.
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1https://www.unpri.org/pri/about-the-pri as of October 2020
2https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2020/08/23/four-esg-highlights-from-the-2020-proxy-season/
3ESG data, research and ratings are produced by MSCI ESG Research LLC and are used as an input to the MSCI ESG indexes, calculated by MSCI, Inc.
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