Bloomberg BNA recently reported on companies’ increasing interest in obtaining sustainability scores due to more corporate demand for ESG related information.
Firms like MSCI Inc. and Sustainalytics B.V. which rate companies on their sustainability performance, are getting more incoming inquiries on sustainability from companies. These firms would generally reach out to companies for fact-checking or obtaining data for their own analysis.
However, companies are now reaching out to these firms for help as investor demand for corporate disclosure becomes more stringent and broad.
According to MSCI Inc., the ratio of incoming inquiries to outgoing communication has been rising from 2014. This indicates a rise in inquiries by companies to MSCI Inc. on sustainability issues.
The importance of ESG in investor relations can be expected to rise. 42 percent of the respondents of BNY Mellon’s Global Trends in Investor Relations Survey believe that inclusion of non-financial factors in investor decision making (Environmental, Social or Governance issues) will be one of the areas with the greatest influence on the function of investor relations over the next 10 years.
