Financial analytics company S&P Global has acquired the environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings arm of RobecoSAM, a Swiss asset manager. The move escalates the competition with rival credit rating agency Moody’s as the companies look to capitalise on increasing demand for data on sustainable investments. The deal means S&P will be in charge of RobecoSAM’s annual survey of corporate sustainability practices, widely considered to be one of the leading sources of such data, covering close to 5,000 companies. RobecoSAM will continue to have access to the data for use in its investment products. As well as the annual survey, S&P is also taking over RobecoSAM’s business providing in-depth one-off reports to companies that want to see how their sustainability performance stacks up against their peers. The ESG ratings sector has traditionally been dominated by index providers such as MSCI, but Moody’s and S&P began moving heavily into the market earlier this year, offering ESG scores on companies in addition to their traditional assessments of creditworthiness.

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Financial Times