MSCI ESG Research provides in-depth research, ratings and analysis of the environmental, social and governance-related (ESG) business practices of thousands of companies worldwide. Through early warnings and timely updates, MSCI’s critical insights can help investors uncover risks and opportunities that traditional investment research may not detect.

Key Features and Coverage on RIMES

For this data source, RIMES hosts four indices: Carbon Metrics, ESG Government Ratings, ESG Impact Monitor and ESG Ratings.

ESG Ratings

From climate change risk to changing governance standards, from global workforce management to the evolving regulatory landscape, ESG factors can impact the long-term risk and return profile of investment portfolios. MSCI ESG Ratings help investors to understand ESG-driven risk and opportunities and integrate these factors into the portfolio construction and management process. The MSCI global team of over 150 experienced research analysts assesses thousands of data points across 34 ESG issues, focusing on the intersection between a company’s core business and the industry issues that can create significant financial risks and opportunities for the company. Companies are rated on a AAA-CCC scale relative to the standards and performance of their industry peers. To maintain their leading edge in research methodology, MSCI ESG Research regularly seeks feedback and opinions from external experts on specific ESG issue areas through the MSCI ESG Research Thought Leader Council. Read more about the Council and recent panels. In addition to over 6,000 global equity issuers, MSCI ESG Ratings are also mapped to over 350,000 fixed income issuers. For more information on MSCI ESG Ratings data on RIMES, please contact us.

Carbon Solutions

More and more institutional investors are measuring their carbon footprint in response to the ambitious Paris climate agreement. According to PRI, nearly 120 investors with a total of US$10 trillion in assets under management have joined the Montreal Carbon Pledge, committing to undertaking and disclosing a portfolio carbon footprint – Read More. MSCI ESG Research analyzes the carbon emissions, intensity and reserves of 8,500 companies, along with the strength of their carbon risk management and clean tech exposure, to give you a robust data set across various aspects of carbon reporting and information. For more information on MSCI ESG Carbon Solutions data on RIMES, please contact us.

Additional MSCI ESG Research Product Offerings

MSCI Corporate Government Ratings: MSCI’s unique corporate governance research process examines company events and corporate behavior as well as governance structure, providing data and analysis through MSCI ESG Governance Metrics, specifically:

• 96 governance metrics organized into four pillars (Board, Pay, Ownership and Control, Accounting)
• Coverage of 6,000+ global companies
• Comprehensive data on 65,000 corporate directors and officers
• 13+ years of shareholder proposals and meeting results data

MSCI ESG Impact Monitor: MSCI ESG Impact Monitor is designed to identify company involvement in major ESG controversies for investors looking to understand how well companies adhere to international norms and principles.

• Controversies are categorized into five pillars, including Environment, Customers, Human Rights & Community, Labor Rights & Supply Chain, and Governance, and 28 underlying indicators
• Coverage of more than 8,800 companies and 350,00 fixed income securities

MSCI ESG Business Involvement Screening Research: Many asset owners and managers are subject to guidelines that restrict investments or place thresholds on companies involved in certain lines of business, including global norms such as the UN Global Compact and federal and state sanctions on companies with operations in countries such as Sudan and Iran. MSCI’s screening research enables institutional investors to satisfy client investment guidelines, implement client mandates, and manage potential ESG portfolio risks.

• Over 17 values screens including Alcohol, Animal Welfare, Gambling, Genetic Engineering, Tobacco and more
• Over 8 global sanctions screens including Burma, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria and more
• Coverage of the full publicly traded equity universe ensure no securities are missed

Some of the data items available include:

• Accounting Investigations, Accounting Percentile Rank, Annual Incentive Measures, Anti-competitive Practices, Assessment Change Date, Asset-Liability Valuation, Audit Committee , Auditor Fees, Bankruptcy or Liquidation, Basic Human Capital Score, Basic Needs Score, Biodiversity & Land Use, Board Attendance Failures, Board Integrity, Board Percentile Rank, Business Combination Provision, Business Ethics and Fraud, Bylaws Amendments, Carbon Emissions , CEO Pay Data, Charter Amendments, Chemical Safety, Classified Board, Clawbacks, Climate Change , Combined CEO/Chair, Company Summary , Confidential Voting. Constituency Provision, Controlling Shareholder, Controversial Sourcing, Corporate data, Corruption & Instability, Corruption Control Score, Country Code, Cross Shareholdings, Cumulative Voting, Currently Delisted, Customer data, Debt Covenant Breach, Description, Dilution Concerns, Director Equity Policy, Director Removal Without Cause, Economic Environment data, Electronic Waste data, Energy Efficiency data, Entrenched Board, Environment data, Evidence data, Executive data, Fair Price Provision or Protection, Final Industry-Adjusted Company Score, Financial data, Fossil Fuel Reserves, Gender Diversity, Governance data, Health & Safety data, Human Capital data, Development Exposure Score, Human Rights data, Institutions Score, Insuring Health & Demographic Risk, Internal Pay Equity, ISIN Code, Issuer Type, Judicial & Penal System Score, Labor Management data, Labor Rights data, Last Updated Date, Late Filings, Legality of Death Penalty, Low Carbon Reduction, Majority Voting, Management of Environmental Externalities Score, MSCI Classification, Negative Director Votes, No Comp Committee / Execs on Board, No Independent Directors, Non-Compliance with the Minimum Standards for the Elimination of Human Trafficking, One Share One Vote, Other High Impact Governance Events, Oversized Board, Pay Percentile Rank – Pay Performance Links, Peer Performance Measures, Performance Targets. Poison Pill, Political Rights & Civil Liberties Score, Pollution & Waste Theme Score, Privacy & Data Security, Product Carbon Footprint, Product Liability, Product Safety and Quality Productive Land and Mineral Resources Score, Proxy Access, Qualified Auditor Opinion, Raw Material Sourcing Score/Weight, Related Party Transactions, Resource Conservation Score, Responsible Investment data, Revenue Recognition, Risk Management Expertise, Run Rate Concerns, Say on Pay Policy, Securities Fraud, Sedol Code, Severance Vesting, Shale Oil & Shale Gas . Shareholder Action by Written Consent
  Shareholder Rights to Convene Meeting, Significant Vote Against Pay Practices, Stability & Peace Score, Strong Classified Board Combination, Supply Chain Labor Standards, Threat of Delisting, Total Coal/Gas Potential Emissions, Total Potential Data, Toxic Emissions & Waste, Tracking Stock, Undersized Board, Voting Rights Limits, Vulnerability to Environmental Events Score, Water Resources, Weighted-Average Key Issue Score, Wellness Score, etc.

Learn more

Visit msci.com to download MSCI ESG Research’s latest issue briefs and white papers, including the top five 2016 ESG Trends to Watch.

For more information on MSCI data on RIMES, please contact us.