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Research Results: 85 Percent of the S&P 500® Index Companies Published Sustainability / Responsibility / Citizenship Reports in 2017 One of the world’s most important benchmarks for equity investors is the S&P 500 Index®, a proprietary market-value weighted “basket” of the top stocks that represent about 80% of the U.S. equity markets according to the owner, S&P Dow Jones Indices/McGraw Hill Financial. There is about US$8 trillion in Assets Under Management benchmarked to the index – companies included have a market-cap of $6 billion or more (ticker:SPX). More than six years ago the G&A Institute team decided to focus on the companies in the index to determine their level of (or lack of) ESG / Sustainability / CR / Citizenship disclosure and reporting. Our first look-see was for year 2011 reporting and after scouring the known sources (corporate websites, printed reports, search engines results, connecting with companies and more) we found just about 20% or about 100 of the large-cap 500 companies were doing “something” along the lines of what we can describe today as structured reporting. A good number of the reporting companies were following the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework (that was for G3.1 at the time), and some perhaps had some other form of reporting (such as publishing key ESG performance indicators on their web site or in print format for stakeholders). This was a good bit of work for our analyst team because many of the companies simply did not announce or publicize the availability of their sustainability et al report. The response to the first survey (we announced results in spring 2012) was very encouraging and other organizations began to refer to and to help publicize the results. Looking back, the research results were reflecting what was going on in the corporate and investment communities, as more asset owners and managers were adopting ESG / sustainability approaches, policies, practices -- and urging public company managements to get going on expanded disclosure beyond the usual financials. We were at an important tipping point in corporate disclosure. There was peer pressure as well within industries and sectors, as the big bold names in Corporate America looked left and right and saw other firms moving ahead with their enhanced disclosure practices. And there was pressure from the purchasing side – customers were asking their corporate supply chain partners for information about their ESG policies and practices, and for reports on same. There was an exponential effect; companies within the 500 were, in fact, asking each other for such reports! We created a number of unique tools to help guide the annual research effort. Seeing the characteristics of reporting by America’s largest and for the most part best-known companies we expanded our “Sustainability Big Data” resources and decided to closely track S&P 500 companies’ public reporting and feed the rich data in our databases. The following year (2013) we tracked the 500’s year 2012 reporting activities – and found a very encouraging trend that rang a bell with our sustainable investing colleagues: a bit more than half of the 500 were now publishing sustainability et al reports. Then in 2013, the numbers increased again to 72%...then 75%...then 81%...and now for 2017, 85%. The dramatic rise is clearly evident in this chart:
Does embracing corporate sustainability in any way impact negatively on the market performance of these large companies? Well, we should point out that the annual return for the SPX was 22% through 12-13-18. You can read more in our 2018 Flash Report here. Kudos to our G&A Research Team for their significant contributions to this year’s report: Team Leader Elizabeth Peterson; analyst-interns Amanda Hoster, Matthew Novak, Yangshengling “UB” Qui, Sara Rossner, Shraddha Sawant, Alan Stautz, Laura Malo Yague and Qier “Cher” Zue. Sustainability: Forward Momentum! For Your Attention: The Editors' Scans Five key sustainability trends for 2018 Sustainability isn’t expensive; it’s profitable (Tuesday - March 13, 2018) Source: GreenBiz - The holidays have come and gone, but e-commerce continues to thrive long after the gift-giving season. With speedy delivery times and easy checkout, shoppers have grown accustom to ordering everything they need for their... Greening India for a sustainable tomorrow Shrimp farming sustainability initiative launched The Seligmann family links the head and the heart of sustainability McKinsey’s Head on Why Corporate Sustainability Efforts Are Falling Short Paris Fashion Week concludes with sustainability round table How to make sustainability every employee's responsibility How far has your industry group traveled along the sustainability journey? Our Focus This Week on A Range of ESG Topics & Issues – More Things to Think About… Global Warming and Climate Instability: One Last Chance to Save Ourselves Senate passes rollback of post-financial crisis banking rules What does investing ethically mean? (Friday - March 16, 2018) Associated Profiles : Sustainable Apparel Coalition United States: What Directors Need To Know In 2018 About Board Diversity News for You From the Corporate Sector -Both Positive & Negative - Headlines Dick's Sporting Goods CEO expects to lose customers over gun stance Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Was Just Charged With 'Massive Fraud.' Here's What the SEC Says She Did IKEA, Marks & Spencer sign up to ambitious new sustainability goals Does your bottled water contain plastic? News & Opinion: Asset Managers, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Pension Funds ‘Sovereign investment fund would protect against war' Goldman Names David Solomon as Next in Line to Replace CEO Blankfein Pension fund would divest from gun companies under new bill Wells Fargo pushed by nuns to address the bank's ethical lapses Trump Administration Impact on Sustainability / Corporate and Investor Affairs Weathering Trump's skepticism, U.S. officials still fighting global warming
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G&A's To The Point! is a businesss intelligence web-platform resource. This management briefing service offers timely insights and perspectives on Corporate Sustainability, Responsibility & Citizenship.Click here to request a trial subscription. Below are links to a sampling of three recent briefs: ABOUT THOSE CORPORATE EMPLOYEE PENSION PLANS –The Focus is Increasing on the Shortfalls…and Remedies McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts: Poly Coffee & Beverage Cups In Investor Focus ISS Unveils New Corporate "E" and "S" QualityScores For 1,500 Companies
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G&A Institute Sustainability Update™ Ceres on Corporate Sustainability: “Turning Point” Research Effort Results _________________________________________
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FLASH REPORT: 82% of the S&P 500 Companies Published Corporate Sustainability Reports in 2016 _________________________________________ GRI'S USA, UK & IRELAND
G&A Institute is the Data Partner for the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) in the USA, UK and Republic of Ireland. We identify, receive, collect, analyze, database, and communicate about every report issued in any of the 3 countries. Over the past 6+ years, G&A analyzed 6,000-plus sustainability reports in this pro bono role and databased 100+ important data points for each report. Find out more @ G&A's What's A Data Partner _________________________________________
Navigating the way to sustainability...
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The Sustainability Highlights eNewsletter is prepared by Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. based on continuous monitoring of trends and developments in Sustainability and ESG. Governance & Accountability Instiute is the "Sustainability Headquarters™" for clients in the corporate, investment, public and social sectors. Based in New York, G&A is a for-profit consulting organization providing a range of value-added strategies, services and resources related to ESG & sustainability to clients in the corporate and capital markets communities.For G&A's full range of services, click on each of the links below: For more information, contact Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. | ||||||||||||||||
As Louis Coppola, EVP of G&A Institute who designs and manages the analysis notes: “Entering 2018, just 15% of the S&P 500 declined to publish sustainability reports. The practice of sustainability reporting by the super-majority of the 500 companies is holding steady with minor increases year after year. One of the most powerful driving forces behind the rise in reporting is an increasing demand from all categories of investors for material, relevant, comparable, accurate and actionable ESG disclosure from companies they invest in. Mainstream investors constantly searching for larger returns have come to the conclusion that a company that considers their material Environmental, Social, and Governance opportunities and risks in their long-term strategies will outperform and outcompete those firms that do not. It's just a matter now of following the money.”
Investor Data Review & Enhancement
