Newly-emerged from a period of consolidation, SRI in agencies should now be facing a phase of fierce competition. The terms of this competition may be the same as before (breadth of coverage, quantity of indicators, price etc) or new factors may be introduced (e.g. client responsiveness, investment-relevance etc.)
Either way, agencies must emerge in a shape fit to:
- Remain relevant to asset managers who are showing ever more interest in ‘integrated analysis’
- Compete in a globalised market for SRI research (whether as ‘waterfront providers’ or ‘niche specialists’)
- Build and sustain competitive advantage in the face of aggressive commoditisation of data and falling demand for ‘ratings’
- Withstand the next (inevitable) wave of excess capital to hit this section of the value chain
Sustainable investor offers…
- Facilitated sessions to challenge senior management thinking on the business dynamics of SRI
- Training on how to integrate sustainability research with mainstream investment decision-making (‘integrated analysis’)
- Client needs analysis to help agencies understand the working practices and research process of asset management clients
- Practical steps to maximise the efficiency of business relationships with companies and research partners