Topic of the month May 2012: SRI 2.0 - Transparency Platforms emerging

SRI 2.0 - Transparency through information portals

All around the globe, the number and diversity of market participants offering a wide range of SRI products and services are steadily growing. At the same time, more and more players - private as well as institutional investors, asset manager, advisors, research institutes –are interested in SRI. An orientation in the market of sustainability is therefore often becoming time consuming and difficult.

Who are the SRI-players? Which products and services are currently available in the SRI market? Which sustainability issues should be considered in the investment process? – these and other questions often remain unclear. A new challenge is emerging: “finding one’s way around”. A specialised and competent navigator is therefore more important than ever.

There are several initiatives, which are proactively offering portals to increase transparency in the SRI market. There are three particular information portals to point out:

• Deutsche Börse (German stock exchange) introduces ESG-criteria
  The information portal of German stock exchange is extended by a sustainable dimension. The new extension enables investors to choose securities according to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria. Therefore, traditional ratios such as P/E ratio can be combined with additional information regarding the environmental and social compatibility as well as the Governance of a company. This ESG ratings are based on the research of an external, specialised rating agency, which evaluates the sustainability of corporate activities. However, it should be noted that there are several of these agencies in the market, which are using different models to evaluate the companies’ ESG performance (different interpretation of the term “sustainability”, indicators and weightings). The portal of the German stock exchange does not provide a detailed breakdown of the offered ESG ratings.
  
  

• SRI-connect: enabling expert discussions
  Before, SRI-Experts and interested parties were only able to use specific forums on social networks such as Facebook or LinkedIn to discuss SRI issues online. Therefore, the online service SRI-connect.com was established to improve, professionalise and actively promote these discussions. SRI-connect currently enables around 1300 experts and interested parties to discuss the latest SRI topics and trends in different global discussion groups and to spread news in the field of SRI.
  
  

• yourSRI: one of the leading databases for responsible investing
  The increased awareness and interest in ethical and green investments is fuelling a need for a greater breadth and depth of information and more straightforward and transparent access to key facts and figures. That’s why yourSRI.com has been set up.  It is one of the leading databases for responsible investing and designed for all kind of SRI-players. yourSRI.com was created to access corresponding products and services in the field of sustainability and responsibility. yourSRI provides access to over 900 companies and 1200 documents which are covering truly the whole SRI-value chain from "Asset Management & Investment" (e.g. more than 400 different SRI-Funds, investment products, etc.) to "Research" (e.g. more than 300 reports & surveys such as carbon, offshore wind opportunities, impact investment opportunities etc.).

In the meantime sustainability is more than just a phrase. There is an increasing amount of private and institutional investors, who are actively incorporating ESG-issues in their investment decisions. For this purpose, sustainable information portals are useful tools to build one’s own opinion to take conscious investment decisions.

Therefore, SRI can participate to fulfill the vision of a sustainable future of the UN Brundtland Report and “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

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