A research study, commissioned by the European Commission, into the provision and use of sustainable investment data, ratings and research is now calling on senior staff in the asset management industry and in listed companies to share their ideas and experience. By completing a questionnaire, participants will be supporting a charitable donation to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The key aims of the project are to:
- provide a ‘state of play’ of the market in sustainability-related products and services;
- establish an inventory and classification of participants and sustainability products/services;
- explore the use and quality of these products and services; and
- provide the Commission with recommendations and information on best practices to stimulate demand and improve the quality of supply.
The consortium undertaking the project is led by SustainAbility and contains Hindsight Consultancy, SRI-Connect, Institutional Investor and law firm Minter Ellison.
The study will inform the EC's Sustainable Finance Action Plan, Review of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive and Green New Deal. “It could revolutionise the way that sustainable investment research contributes to mainstream investment decision-making,” the Commission claims.
Hindsight and SRI-Connect, who were charged with canvassing the views of investors, industry and research providers, were originally planning to conduct a series of telephone interviews. But the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic changed their thinking, according to Mike Tyrrell, founder of SRI-Connect. The two firms are now seeking responses via an online questionnaire rather than telephone interviews and, in recognition of the time this will save them, will donate their €20,000 ($21,700) interviewing fee to the World Health Organisation’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response fund.
The geographic scope has also been expanded beyond the European Union, thanks to a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, to make the study relevant to companies, investors and research providers globally.
To participate, please click here if you are in charge of sustainable investments at an asset owner, an asset manager or a research provider. Click here if you are an investor relations or Corporate Social Responsibility manager at a listed company.
People:Mike Tyrrell