Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute releases “Inclusive ESG Tool” and accompanying “Inclusive ESG Score” to help emerging market companies and global investors unlock investments.
Despite a global surge in sustainable investments over recent years, emerging markets receive less than 10 percent of ESG capital flows worldwide.
After the success of the Inclusive ESG Framework developed by FII Institute in 2022, this year, FII Institute has partnered with ESG Book to create an online tool and score for investors to analyze ESG performance and make better investment decisions.
Addressing data gaps in emerging market analysis, the Inclusive ESG Score identifies companies that prioritize ESG factors while fostering long-term sustainable growth.
The Inclusive ESG Score drives the Inclusive ESG Ranking, which identifies the 250 most sustainable emerging markets companies, launched at the 7th edition of FII Institute’s flagship conference in Riyadh, FII.
The new tool has the potential to help reduce the USD $5.4 trillion ESG investment gap in emerging markets.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia and LONDON, Oct. 28, 2023 /CNW/ — The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute, a global non-profit foundation dedicated to tackling global challenges, has unveiled its Inclusive ESG Tool and Score at the annual FII flagship conference to improve the quality of data on ESG in emerging markets and empower companies in these markets to receive financial flows. The initiative has been developed in partnership with ESG Book, a global leader in sustainability data and technology.
The FII Institute’s Inclusive ESG Tool has been developed to empower companies in these markets improve sustainability efforts and results while helping investors identify current and future performance leaders.
While there has been a surge in ESG investing over the past decade, with an estimated USD $38 trillion in sustainability-led assets now under management worldwide, emerging markets continue to receive less than 10 percent of ESG capital flows, despite accounting for 58 percent of global GDP. The new Inclusive ESG Tool has the potential to help reduce an ESG investment gap of USD $5.4 trillion in emerging markets1.
Interviews conducted by FII Institute with leading global investors have revealed that ESG rating agencies are one of the main barriers to increasing investment in emerging markets, with a core challenge being that many rating agencies use KPIs that are not relevant to emerging markets.
In 2022, the Inclusive ESG Framework and Scoring Methodology developed by FII Institute met this need by answering the key question for investors: “What does good ESG performance look like in emerging markets?”
This year, with the unveiling of the Inclusive ESG Tool and Score, FII Institute recognized the need for metrics that are tailored specifically to the challenges of emerging markets. Its systematic materiality approach emphasizes industry risk, ensuring an equitable evaluation of companies operating within diverse sectors. To promote transparency and accuracy, the score differentiates performance and disclosure analytics.
The primary analytic of the toolkit is the Inclusive ESG Momentum Score, which integrates current performance and ongoing change in companies’ sustainability performance. It acknowledges corporate commitment in driving positive change by indicating future ESG performance. Combined with a company’s current ESG Performance Score and Disclosure Score, it provides a comprehensive and nuanced picture of corporate sustainability performance.
Based on the new score, FII Institute and ESG Book have co-developed a Top 250 Inclusive ESG Ranking to identify the most sustainable emerging markets companies. The ranking has launched alongside the new tool at FII Institute’s flagship conference in Riyadh, FII7, which takes place from 24 – 26 October 2023.
Richard Attias, CEO, FII Institute, said: “Our planet faces immense challenges, including global warming, a rapid decline in biodiversity, and an increasingly unbearable cost of living for many. However, we are not without the means to address these issues. Our global financial markets are more interconnected and driven by change than ever before. Investing in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives plays a pivotal role in the solution. These funds should be strategically directed toward emerging markets where their impact is most needed, all while ensuring the returns necessary for the vitality of these markets.”
Dr Daniel Klier, CEO, ESG Book, said: “We are delighted to be collaborating with FII Institute to usher in a new approach to ESG data in emerging markets. The Inclusive ESG Score is a next generation tool for investors that identifies the sustainability leaders of today and tomorrow, with a transparent, data-driven approach that is tailored to emerging markets. Through this partnership, we look forward to providing a solution that enhances investment decision-making, and in turn helps to drive greater ESG investment flows to emerging market companies.”
References
1) In 2021, 3.4% of global ESG-based assets under management (AUM) were held in emerging markets, while 20.2% of total global AUM were held in emerging markets. This equates to a gap of USD $5.4 trillion. ESG Book, 2023.
Notes to Editors
For more information and for all media requests, please contact (insert joint details).
About FII Institute
The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute is a global non-profit foundation with an investment arm and one agenda: Impact on Humanity. Global, inclusive and driven by data, we foster great minds from around the world and turn ideas into real-world solutions and actions in four critical areas: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics, Education, Healthcare and Sustainability. Learn more: https://fii-institute.org/
About ESG Book
ESG Book is a global leader in sustainability data and technology, with a mission to transform finance through sustainability by making ESG data accessible, comparable, and transparent. ESG Book is the only provider in the world to combine a highly competitive, global sustainability dataset reported by corporates together with a disclosure platform. ESG Book’s solutions are used by many of the world’s largest financial organisations including Bloomberg, BNY Mellon, Citi, Dow Jones, JP Morgan, HSBC, and Glass Lewis. For more information, visit esgbook.com
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.
“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”
Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.
Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.
Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.
In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.
The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.
And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
