Swiss financial data expert SIX, has announced that Sustainalytics’ ESG data is now available for the broad customer base of SIX for them to comply with new EU sustainability regulations.
Sustainalytics is the first third party specialist ESG data provider that SIX has onboarded to its distribution channels. Sustainalytics is a Morningstar company and a global provider of ESG research, ratings and data. On the basis of their data, SIX provides new extensive ESG data sets for EU Taxonomy and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), which support its clients, such as banks and asset managers, with their disclosure obligations and more.
The core of the SFDR data set is Principal Adverse Impact information. Additionally, SIX now offers Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Ratings, which help firms to make more informed investment decisions and provide advice for end-clients. These ESG Risk Ratings measure a company’s exposure to industry-specific material ESG risks and how well a company is managing those risks.
The SFDR and Taxonomy regulations are part of the EU Action Plan on Sustainable Finance, which serves the goals to reorient capital flows towards sustainable investments, manage financial risks from climate change, environmental degradation and social issues, and foster transparency. It introduces a set of requirements for more transparent disclosure of sustainability metrics at company or issuer and financial product level and aims to increase comparability of investments, as well as improve the prevention of greenwashing.
The strategy of SIX is to aggregate and distribute data from renowned ESG data providers around the globe, as well as from a large number of manufacturers of financial products, such as fund managers. SIX standardises all ESG data, makes data from different providers comparable and machine readable and ensures that it can be requested on a company or financial instrument level, such as equities, bonds, or funds, contributing to easier data ingestion for the global customer base of SIX. Clients receive this data through the same delivery channels as other ESG, reference, corporate actions, regulatory and tax data from SIX. In addition, SIX offers its own ESG data sets – ESG Performance Data and ESG Indices in Switzerland and the Nordics as well as Gender Equality Indices in Switzerland and Spain.
Janine Hofer-Wittwer, CFA, Senior Product Manager, Financial Information, SIX, says: “Through this collaboration with Sustainalytics, we help to reduce the complexity of data sourcing. By providing data regarding investee companies, product manufacturers and financial instruments, SIX is the single reliable source covering our clients’ ESG data needs, which are becoming increasingly important as the regulatory landscape continues to develop.”
“Sustainalytics is delighted to work with SIX and provide its clients with our high-quality ESG risk and compliance solutions,” says Tim Langer, Sustainalytics’ Director of Client Relations. “We look forward to advancing our relationship with SIX and supporting their clients’ ESG research and data needs, particularly as elements of the EU Action Plan continue to roll-out.”
