GRESB believes it sets its environmental, social and governance (ESG) assessment tool apart from the others by taking a holistic approach, rather than focusing primarily on one overarching environmental rating.
Encompassing a wide range of ESG issues, GRESB Benchmarks provide aspect- and metric-specific comparisons and scores for granular analysis, it claims. This in turn offers actionable insights for investors, asset managers, and companies to make decisions that drive positive environmental and social outcomes while enhancing financial performance, GRESB argues.
By offering comparative data, investors are able to see how their portfolios stack up against industry peers, drilling down into specific ESG metrics and issues, such as like-for-like performance improvement and net zero target-setting.
"While GRESB was created as a sustainability assessment tool, we've grown to become a strategic partner to the investment industry, through the relationships we've built and the collaborations we facilitate through the independent GRESB Foundation," said Chris Pyke, chief innovation officer at GRESB.
Real estate investment firm Heitman is one satisfied customer of GRESB Assessment. John White, senior managing director and global investment strategist at Heitman said: "GRESB Assessment have helped investors think more deeply about the issues and the questions they should ask... the disclosures to GRESB have transformed how companies report on ESG, raising the tide for general disclosures across the sector."
Transparency is an important aspect of the development of the assessment, says GRESB, with it making the process open to participants to understand how scores are calculated and which ESG topics are included. It also works with the real assets industry, through working groups managed by the independent and not-for-profit GRESB Foundation, to develop the ESG standards upon which the assessments are based.
GRESB works closely with the real estate and infrastructure industries on the ESG standards that GRESB assessments are based upon through the independent and non-for-profit GRESB Foundation.
