Refinitiv launches ESG Analytics that minimizes “corporate greenwashing”
The software underlying the Refinitiv MarketPsych ESG Analytics is an AI-based engine that locates content pertaining to specific companies as well as cities, regions, and countries while excluding corporate press releases, corporate websites, and regulatory filings. In sum, it minimizes the impact of corporate “greenwashing.”
Refinitiv has launched MarketPsych ESG Analytics as an effort to provide numerical ESG insights on companies and countries based on news and social media monitoring.
Refinitiv and MarketPsych have partnered to create the ESG analytics offering to monitor perceptions of sustainability and ESG risk. The service complements existing ESG data with its external “outside-in” perspective on sustainability by processing millions of global articles and social media posts.
The solution can be useful for quantitative investors who wish to enhance alpha generation and risk management, but also for discretionary investors who look to improve portfolio construction. Corporate clients can monitor market perceptions of their own and competitor firms, while regulators can use the data to direct investigations.
Leon Saunders Calvert, Head of Research & Portfolio Management, Refinitiv, said: “Refinitiv MarketPsych ESG Analytics augments Refinitiv’s ESG company disclosed data with sophisticated AI tools to create high-frequency sentiment data on ESG considerations based on news and social media. This is a fantastic and timely extension of our long-standing partnership with MarketPsych and we look forward to bringing this to market to add yet more value to our sustainable finance portfolio of services.”
The software underlying the Refinitiv MarketPsych ESG Analytics is an AI-based natural language processing (NLP) engine, which locates content pertaining to specific companies as well as cities, regions, and countries while excluding corporate press releases, corporate websites, and regulatory filings. In sum, it minimizes the impact of corporate “greenwashing.”
Richard Peterson, CEO, MarketPsych, said: “Through the lens of this data, our clients can explore how media perceptions and corporate behavior impact business performance over time. For example, we’ve found that the share prices of companies with higher Workplace Sentiment scores significantly outperform their peers, and it appears that happier employees generate more value for shareholders. We hope that such insights inspire positive changes in corporate structure and behavior.”
Refinitiv offers one of the richest ESG databases in the industry, which has been developed for 18 years now. Its ESG data covers 80% of the global market cap and over 450 metrics.