Trucost environmental performance data to be available on GMI Analyst platform

Agreement bolsters ESG metrics for investment community and corporate stakeholders

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- GMI and Trucost announced today a strategic partnership to incorporate Trucost environmental performance data into the GMI Analyst research platform. The agreement strengthens GMI’s existing governance analysis and will enable GMI clients – leading institutional investors, banks, insurers, auditors, regulators and corporations – to incorporate a measure of environmental risk alongside traditional financial metrics.

Trucost data on environmental risk includes analysis of carbon, water, waste, pollution and natural resource dependency, in order to identify efficiencies and areas for reducing material environmental risks. The Trucost analysis also identifies where data gaps exist in terms of tracking and reporting and compares environmental performance of companies against peers, sectors, investment benchmarks and portfolios.

GMI is the world’s leading provider of risk research on public companies with a focus on Corporate Governance and Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) ratings and research. GMI research covers more than 20,000 companies, with more than 4,000 ESG ratings, in all developed markets and many emerging ones. GMI’s clients have found a valuable link between GMI ratings and major negative events, such as regulatory actions, shareholder litigation, material financial restatements and financial distress, that impact company value.

Given the potential impact of environmental mismanagement on a company’s value, it has become increasingly important for investors and corporate stakeholders to have a better understanding of which companies are actively managing risks around environmental issues. The Trucost data will bolster GMI’s existing ESG metrics by offering more visibility on when a company’s environmental performance is below average for its sector, or when it hasn’t disclosed environmental data publicly.

Jack Zwingli, CEO of GMI said, “Environmental risk is recognized as impacting corporate balance sheets, long term financial performance and as a cause of negative events that damage reputations and value. For that reason, investors and corporations are actively incorporating ESG into their decision making and reporting. The Trucost analysis greatly strengthens our existing governance research and ratings. We are looking forward to a strong partnership with Trucost, one in which we not only share Trucost’s unparalleled content and analysis with our clients, but also collaborate with Trucost on a common goal of increasing environmental risk management transparency in the marketplace.”

Richard Mattison, chief executive of Trucost said, “Providing Trucost data over the robust and comprehensive GMI Analyst platform enables the investment community to integrate environmental risks and opportunities into their traditional analysis. A company that manages its environmental efficiency and reporting to a high standard is a good proxy for all round good management. We look forward to working alongside GMI to help investors achieve a sound measure of environmental risk alongside their existing risk metrics.”

About GMI

GMI is the leading independent provider of global corporate governance and ESG ratings and research. GMI ratings, covering more than 20,000 companies worldwide, are built on extensive research and modeling that incorporate a broad spectrum of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) metrics. GMI ratings also encompass accounting transparency issues, to support the goal of identifying companies at risk. GMI ratings are widely used by leading institutional investors, banks, insurers, auditors, regulators and corporations seeking to incorporate corporate governance and ESG factors into risk assessment and decision making. GMI’s clients have found a valuable link between GMI ratings and major negative events, such as regulatory actions, shareholder litigation, material financial restatements and financial distress – all of which impact investment returns and company performance. GMI is a signatory to the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative (PRI), a network committed to incorporating ESG research into the investment process. GMI is the combined entity of GovernanceMetrics International, The Corporate Library and Audit Integrity, which all merged in December 2010. For more information please visit www.gmiratings.com.

About Trucost

Trucost was established in 2000, to help companies, investors and governments understand and quantify the environmental impacts of business activities. Over the past 10 years Trucost has collected, researched and validated environmental data from organizations across the world. The result is the world’s most comprehensive data on corporate environmental impacts, covering Greenhouse Gases (GHGs), water, waste, pollutants and natural resource dependency. This enables our clients to access:

• The most efficient approach to measuring GHG emissions and wider environmental impacts across organizations, supply chains and investment portfolios;
• Clear identification of prioritized focus areas for managing environmental risk;
• Validation of source data, including completion of gaps in data which are not currently being tracked or reported on;
• Comparison of environmental performance against peers, sectors and investment benchmarks;
• The ability to create environmentally-oriented investment products.

CONTACT:

For more information about GMI
The Neibart Group
Emma Murphy, +1-718-875-4545
emurphy@neibartgroup.com
or
For more information about Trucost
Trucost
Sarah Wainwright, +44 (0) 20-7160-9800
sarah.wainwright@trucost.com

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  New York

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