To capture value and position their portfolios with the greatest chance of long-term success, investors are increasingly turning towards ESG criteria to assess performance across non-financial factors.

The number of data providers, rating agencies and regulatory standards and framework bodies that make up the ESG ecosystem has increased significantly over the last decade, making it difficult for companies to navigate the complex world of ESG data and reporting.

But one thing is clear – a company’s ESG performance is financially material for investors, making it imperative for companies to benchmark their ESG performance and look for ways to optimise it.

That’s why we developed the Simply Sustainable ESG Optimisation Tool^© to help our clients think through each element of their ESG performance in a way that builds long-term value and increases attractiveness to investors. It identifies the six key steps to consider when looking to improve your ESG performance, all of which must be leveraged to meaningfully embed ESG into strategy and disclosures. We use these steps flexibly with our clients to plan and support actionable recommendations that will improve their ESG performance.

ESG Ratings – Optimising Performance

We use an evidence-based approach to improve our clients’ ESG ratings performance. This is achieved through prioritising and engaging with ratings providers such as MSCI, FTSE4Good and Sustainalytics, and assessing individual company performance against a shortlist of relevant standards, ratings criteria, and frameworks to build a stronger ESG proposition. Our recommendations pinpoint near-term wins, and longer-term actions that will improve your reputation with investors; gain their trust; and strengthen your overall approach to sustainability.

Reporting – Focused disclosures

Effective disclosure and performance reporting are vital to improve your scoring on ESG ratings and in increasing investor confidence. Investors want to understand how ESG fits into the company strategy and how material topics are managed. At the same time, they may expect you to align your reporting with key disclosure frameworks such as GRI, SASB and TCFD. We ensure that your reporting is geared towards the interests of your investors and that it aligns with key disclosure frameworks so that they have the necessary information to make decisions about your business.