Robeco shares SDG IP to promote discourse on green data

Robeco has launched the Sustainable Investing Open Access Initiative, granting access to its intellectual property in an effort to enhance ESG data processes.

In the first phase of the Open Access programme, clients and researchers will have free access through a site to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) scores that Robeco has generated for companies using its proprietary SDG methodology. In 2017, Robeco began building the SDG Framework, which enables asset managers to measure a company's contribution to the SDGs.

The intellectual property of Robeco will eventually be made available to a wider audience. In exchange, the Rotterdam-based company seeks input on the data to establish a continuous dialogue with its stakeholders, such as academics, clients, and SI specialists.

Robeco anticipates that this endeavour will strengthen the data and its methodology.

Robeco will also make other SI data and intellectual property accessible to a larger group of stakeholders.

Victor Verberk, CIO fixed income and sustainability, said: “Traditionally, asset managers tend to protect intellectual property and use it to add value to their proprietary investment processes. Yet the massive challenges our planet is facing require a different approach. We need to join forces to address these challenges properly. By opening up our SDG data to a broader audience, we aim to contribute to improving quality and standards setting across the industry.”

By fLEXI tEAM