Dow Jones said this morning it has launched a sustainability data index to help the global financial community understand the performance and impact of a company’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices.
The initial offering is available for asset managers to make sustainable investment decisions and to better engage the growing audience of purpose-driven investors, the company explained.
The new data set provides sustainability scores and sentiment on more than 6,000 publicly traded companies.
The scoring model is aligned with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards, covering five sustainability dimensions and 26 categories.
“Daily news sentiment and scoring updates ensure financial firms are basing sustainable investment decisions on information that is more timely and transparent than self-reported data alone,” according to a statement sent to ESG Insight.
Joe Cappitelli, general manager of Dow Jones Newswires, further explained that “we have seen a significant surge in sustainable investing as the next generation of investors wants their portfolios to have a positive impact on the world in addition to financial gains.”
“Financial professionals are looking for a comprehensive view of companies’ ESG practices; however, what they currently find are opaque data sources, lacking in detail and up-to-date information,” he continued.
Regulation
With regulation on the rise, Dow Jones’s sustainability data also helps financial firms provide greater transparency about how they are accounting for sustainability risks, and integrating ESG into the investment process, the company said.
“We are seeing a wave of new policy and regulatory changes in the sustainable investment space that is driving demand for better data” said Glenn Hall, editor, Professional News at Dow Jones.
“As investors navigate these changes and increasingly consider more nonfinancial factors, they need a robust and dynamic way of evaluating how well companies are managing the impact they may have on people and the planet.”
The new data set includes:
● Company Scores and Sentiment – 6,000+ companies around the world are evaluated and rated across 26 categories of sustainability
● Industry, Category and Country Scoring – Granular data, news signals and scoring weighted for industry relevance
● Trusted Evaluation – A transparent model
Dow Jones’s sustainability data will initially be available via a feed, designed for institutional investors to integrate into portfolio management and strategy systems, Dow Jones said.
