Consistent ESG Scoring With One Database

Raiffeisen Research started working on ESG analyses at a very early stage (2016) and was therefore confronted with the fact that ESG analyses is greatly complicated by a lack of data, inconsistent methodologies and legal frameworks that make it more difficult rather than easier.

This led to the development of an ever more comprehensive ESG database to support the analyses. The spectrum of analyses that rely on ESG data is broad: from countries to sectors to individual securities. Likewise, the capital market is covered from an ESG perspective with stocks and bonds.

This database now includes 16 million data points, 13,000 companies, 35,000 bonds and 180 countries. Our data tool is an AWS cloud solution that allows us to offer sub-cloud solutions to our customers.

The Raiffeisen ESG Data Solution is intended to be for customers exactly what the name suggests: a solution for many everyday problems, for a broad customer base and for a wide range of use cases. The customer groups that can benefit from this Raiffeisen solution include:

• Banks (risk management, treasury, investor relations, reporting, private banking, etc.)
• Asset managers (ESG portfolio valuations, ESG portfolio management and optimization, etc.)
• Insurance companies (sustainability indicators, portfolio analysis, ESG target definition and monitoring)
• Companies (sustainability reporting, peer analysis, KPI identification, etc.)
  

Companies are scored based on up to 200 key figures. A single score for environmental, social and governance factors is determined, as well as an overall score (ESG). This is currently done for 13,000 companies in a fully automated process, as there is sufficient data available. What is unique about this tool is that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can also be scored using the same methodology with the help of a simple questionnaire. Among other things, this tool makes it possible to analyze corporate credit portfolios of banks using an upload function. However, the companies are not only scored, but the key figures are also shown in an industry comparison (GICS or NACE) and controversies are addressed.

The tool enables straightforward personalized peer group analyses. Individual ESG KPIs can easily be compared with those of competitors, allowing strengths and weaknesses to be seen at a glance. Benchmarking also makes it relatively easy to define targets (energy efficiency, CO2 reduction, etc.). Furthermore, it also enables the tracking and early detection of developments and trends in the respective industry, allowing you to react accordingly. It can also be used, for example, to define transparent targets (KPIs) for KPI-linked loans or bonds that are in line with the market and industry. Our ESG Data Tool is therefore the ideal companion to support companies in their green transition.

Portfolios (stocks/bonds) can be automatically evaluated using a simple upload function. This makes it possible to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the individual positions at different levels (environmental, social, governance, CO2) and to optimize them. For portfolio optimization, we also provide an AI solution that offers suggestions on how to most efficiently restructure your portfolio based on your ESG optimization preferences.

These are just a few of the use cases that our ESG Data Solution Tool offers RBI customers. We welcome you to challenge us with your ESG data problem or use case. We are happy to present the tool in a live setting, hoping that we will be able to support many RBI customers in their green transformation with it.

If you are interested in our ESG data service, please contact your account manager or Raiffeisen Research (joerg.bayer@rbinternational.com) directly. We are also pleased to refer to one of the most popular publications of our research teams, the Corporate ESG Handbook Austria, which is largely based on ESG data solution tools.