April 2015

Welcome to the April 2015 issue of GISR Insight. We are very pleased to announce an important new strategic milestone for the organization, a four-pronged strategy we call the Center of Ratings Excellence, or CORE.

• Framework: The Framework includes GISR’s Principles for ratings excellence, and an associated Accreditation program to encourage transparency, rigor and usability.
• Hub: GISR is building the first online database of ESG ratings products, enabling investors and companies to make informed decisions on the ESG ratings and research best suited to their needs.
• Labs: Cutting-edge research and development activities that create new knowledge and enhance the theory and practice of ratings.
• Convenings: In-person and online events to foster shared learning and dissemination of best practices among raters, investors, companies and other stakeholders.

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GISR Program Manager and COO Mark Tulay discussed CORE with GreenBiz last week:

“Companies are looking to GISR and others, and now the CORE platform, to help provide market clarity about the 100-plus corporate ESG ratings. GISR is working to expand the global market for ESG research and ratings by focusing on the system — the rated organizations, rating agencies and the ratings users — to create a more virtuous cycle so there’s less friction in the marketplace.”

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Technical Review Committee Meets in Boston

GISR’s Technical Review Committee convened at the Tellus Institute in March 2015.

Study Links ESG and Stock Performance

In March, Harvard Business School Professor and GISR Technical Review Committee member George Serafeim and co-authors published a pathbreaking study that links sector-specific material sustainability indicators to portfolio stock return.

Using SASB indicators, the study concludes that firms with good performance on material sustainability issues significantly outperform firms with poor performance on these issues. Also, firms with good performance on material issues and concurrently poor performance on immaterial issues perform the best. The study fortifies the growing evidence of the positive link between strong sustainability performance and strong financial outcomes.

Sustainalytics Highlights Utility Sector Risks

Sustainalytics has published a new report entitled, “Utilities—The Great Transformation Begins,” which examines through an ESG lens the investment risks and opportunities of 234 public and non-public utilities companies.

On Thursday, April 16, Sustainalytics will host a webinar to present the findings of the report. To register, please click here.

Support GISR

GISR invites companies and investors to join its CORE Supporter program, which helps to fund GISR’s ongoing work. UPS is the most recent addition to this group, which also includes Deutsche Bank, TIAA-CREF, UBS, Bloomberg LP, Bosch, and The Walt Disney Company.