Smart Innovators: Climate & ESG Financial Markets Solutions

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Executive Summary

Since 2019, investor interest in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) has rapidly grown across a wide variety of asset classes and now covers the full spectrum of financial products. This report provides a detailed benchmark of the capabilities of 45 ESG information, analytics, ratings and data providers. Verdantix analysis finds that seven provider categories form the ESG financial solutions market: 1) financial information providers, 2) credit rating agencies, 3) stock exchanges, 4) index providers, 5) fintech software platforms, 6) ESG disclosure data aggregators, and 7) geo-spatial data specialists. An active acquisitions market has also enabled market leaders in other industries to offer a comprehensive solution in the ESG financial solutions market – this report outlines the four key ESG acquisition trends. Heads of ESG at financial firms should use this report to inform their decision making around ESG solution adoption for 2021 and beyond. 
 

State Of The Market For ESG Financial Markets Solutions 
The Financial Market Ecosystem Is Grappling With Powerful ESG Trends
Regulators And Rule Setters Have Made ESG Integration Mandatory, Not Optional
Acquisitions And Investments Have Reshaped The Financial ESG Solution Provider Landscape

Financial ESG Solutions Assessment Clarifies Decision Support Available To Investors 
Buy-Side Customer Needs Determine The Financial ESG Solutions Available
A Diverse Mix Of Solution Providers Sell Into The Financial ESG Market 
The Financial ESG Solutions Market Will Continue To Expand Exponentially

Figure 1. Global Sustainable Fund Inflows  
Figure 2. ESG Acquisitions Summary For 2021  
Figure 3. ESG Financial Solution Definitions  
Figure 4. Seven Categories Of Background For ESG Financial Solution Providers  
Figure 5–1. Primary Data Acquisition Capabilities Assessment    
Figure 5–2. Primary Data Acquisition Capabilities Assessment    
Figure 6–1. ESG Financial Solution Capabilities Assessment    
Figure 6–2. ESG Financial Solution Capabilities Assessment    
Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Loan Syndications & Trading Association (LSTA), SynTao Green Finance, Refinitiv, alva, Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), G7 , Novisto, Inrate, NGP Energy Technology Partners (ETP), Sustainalytics, BlackRock, London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), RIMES, IHS Markit, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management, Jupiter Intelligence, Reporting Exchange, OWL Analytics, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), Bloomberg, RS Metrics, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Covalence, LaSalle Investment Management, S&P Global, International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), KKR, IdealRatings, Green Technical Advisory Group, White Star Capital, Sensefolio, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), Solactive, Volvo, Convercent, ESG Enterprise, Her Majesty's Treasury, RepRisk, Four Twenty Seven, Impact-Cubed, UL, Urgentem, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Europen Commission, FactSet, FinScience, Aberdeen Asset Management, Energy Impact Partners (EIP), Apax, CyberGrants, SquareWell Partners, Waud Capital Partners, OMERS Private Equity, STOXX, Q-GRG Ventures, OneTRust, Arabesque, EQT Private Equity, The Climate Service, Cority, DESOTEC Activated Carbon, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Morningstar, Nuveen, Global Reserve Group (GRG), Oekom Research, Equileap, Trucost, ERM, Envizi, Singapore Stock Exchange, Guidehouse Insights, Blackstone, Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), Vigeo Eiris, Sphera, EnHelix, Rice Investment Group, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Moody's, IQ-EQ, Bluefield, Boohoo, Beyond Ratings, OpenInvest, MioTech, E4tech, CRSHub, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Anesco, Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), Baringa Partners, GMI Ratings, Clarity AI, Deutsche Börse, Carbon Delta, Truvalue Labs, Entelligent, Campbell Global, Sustainalize, Matter, Persefoni, Quantum Energy Partners, Swiss Re, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Munich Re, Fitch Ratings, Clear Sky Analytics, European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), MSCI, FigBytes, Accern, Index Industry Association (IIA), J.P. Morgan, Invesco Real Estate, RobescoSAM, Project Canary, Puro.earth, The Sunday Times, United Nations (UN), CDP Worlwide, iShares, Ara Partners, WeSustain, Sallyport Investments, FTSE Russell, NASDAQ, Apex Group

About the Authors

Sam Renshaw

Sam Renshaw

Industry Analyst

Sam is an Industry Analyst in the ESG & Sustainability practice. His current research agenda focuses on ESG solutions across financial markets including ESG information provid…

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David Metcalfe

David Metcalfe

CEO and Co-Founder

David is the CEO of Verdantix and co-founded the firm in 2008. Based on his 20 years of experience in technology strategy and research roles he provides guidance on digital st…

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