ESG & Sustainability

Saumya Mehrotra from Qontigo’s Sustainable Investment team joined a panel of experts during the recent Sustainable Investment Forum North America in New York, to discuss how ESG data and applications are evolving. In her words, while sustainability information is becoming more specialized, so are investors’ approaches to it.

At the Sustainable Investment Forum North America 2022, Saumya Mehrotra, Associate Principal, Sustainable Investment shares how the combination of our open ESG data and architecture, index platform and analytic capabilities enable our clients on their journey to full sustainability integration.

In September, stocks suffered the worst monthly selloff since March 2020, with the STOXX® Global 1800 index erasing all of its gains from the northern hemisphere’s summer, as central banks around the world pushed ahead with more interest-rate hikes.

The outcome of the STOXX Global ESG Leaders’ annual review is out. Qontigo’s broadest benchmark tracking the highest ESG-scoring companies now comprises 425 constituents: 280 from Europe, 79 from North America and 66 from Asia/Pacific.

Changes were announced as part of the September regular review of the DAX 50 ESG, DAX ESG Target, DAX ESG Screened and DAX indices.

The Sustainable Development Investments Asset Owner Platform (SDI AOP) helps investors assess companies’ contributions to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. With the latest enhancement to its dataset, investors can also imbed information around products and services that have a negative impact.

Stocks resumed losses in August after central bankers said they are not done raising interest rates as they combat record-high inflation.

The SDI AOP and Qontigo have announced significant enhancements to the SDI AOP dataset as part of the August 2022 data release. The data analyzes corporate alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

About 85% of respondents in the Index Industry Association (IIA)’s second annual ESG survey indicated ESG has become more of a priority for their firms in the past year, even as equity prices fell and energy markets were roiled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Counting molecules of carbon is the essential first step to tackling climate change, but it’s only the start,” says the director at WTW’s Climate and Resilience Hub. He explains why investors should focus on a company’s current climate-transition risk by understanding what the impact will be on its future cash flows.

This year has seen a steep slowdown in net purchases of global ESG funds, but inflows remain positive. Broader funds, meanwhile, registered USD 139 billion in net outflows in the first six months of 2022, according to Morningstar data.

Investors can access three different German benchmarks that follow an ESG strategy designed to meet specific needs and responsible objectives, and that have the same rules and transparency characteristics as the blue-chip DAX index.