Sustainalytics wins four Thomson Reuters Extel responsible research awards

Survey on ‘state of the art’ in independent SRI research

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Sustainalytics, the Amsterdam-headquartered environmental, social and governance (ESG) research house, has won four Thomson Reuters Extel responsible research awards.

The firm shone in the new Independent Research in Responsible Investment (IRRI) Survey 2012, conducted by Thomson Reuters Extel and SRI research platform SRI–CONNECT.com.

It won for both best individual SRI analyst, Dayna Linley, best overall SRI analysis firm and best individual corporate governance analyst, Laurence Loubieres.

In addition, Sustainalytics’ US Managing Director and head of institutional relations for North America, Darragh Gallant, was named best salesperson for SRI/corporate governance research.

Sustainalytics, which merged with Canada’s Jantzi Research in 2009 and is backed by shareholders including Triodos Bank, MeesPierson and PGGM, last month finalized its acquisition of Singapore-based ESG rival, Responsible Research.
GMI Ratings was named Best Corporate Governance analysis firm while the best asset manager for SRIresearch was The Co-Operative Asset Management (TCAM). Unilever won the gong for best quoted company for SRI communications.

The IRRI survey was conducted in June and had responses from 239 analysts and portfolio managers from 139 companies in 17 countries.

It asked asset managers to rate the SRI research from independent providers – and also asked the providers themselves how well companies communicate on sustainability.

The awards complement the long-running ‘sell-side’ Extel awards, at which Crédit Agricole’s CA Cheuvreux retained its top slot as the leading pan-European brokerage for SRI and sustainability in June.

“We are delighted to present this detailed review of the ‘state of the art’ in independent SRI research,” said Steve Kelly, managing director of Extel at Thomson Reuters.

“Transparency in this market will drive quality, and quality deserves to be rewarded,” added Mike Tyrrell, founder of www.SRI-CONNECT.com. “IRRI goes some way to achieving both of these objectives.”