Refinitiv August 2019

Refinitiv: empowering sustainability with data

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Achieving sustainable finance with Refinitiv WRITTEN BY

WILLIAM SMITH PRODUCED BY

CAITLYN COLE

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Refinitiv’s Head of Sustainability, Luke Manning, explains the centrality of the company’s sustainability strategy in inspiring its own practices and informing the products it offers customers

T

he role of finance in sustainability cannot be understated. When capital reaches sustainable enterprises and companies

are rewarded for sustainable behaviour through investment, it is the world that reaps the benefits.

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Such decisions, however, can only be made in the presence of accurate, understandable information.

Refinitiv is the leading provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) data. Founded in 2018 out of Thomson Reuters’ Financial and Risk unit, the company has taken advantage of its rebirth to institute an ambitious sustainability strategy.

At the same time, it is putting sustainability at the heart of its business model, offering customers the sustainability data they need to make the right decisions to drive positive and sustainable business outcomes. Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives, has worked for the company since the Thomson Reuters days and has overseen the positioning of sustainability at the core of the firm’s operations.

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“ Ensuring sustainability is at the heart of building our culture and our values is a privileged position to be in” — Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives w w w.re f i nit iv. com

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“ Our tagline is ‘data is just the beginning’ and that couldn’t be truer for sustainability” — Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives

“We look at sustainability through two lenses,” says Manning. “The first is how we operate as a business ourselves, and how we measure our own impact. The second is how we drive sustainable behaviour beyond the boundaries of our own footprint.”

Internally, Refinitiv seeks to hold itself to account across a broad range of factors, from efficient use of resources and recycling to community and charity support. “Activities that traditionally sat under a corporate responsibility banner now form part

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of our sustainability strategy,” explains Manning. Not content with altering its own behaviour, however, Refinitiv looks outward with its concept of ‘Sustainable Leadership’. “We want to make sure we stand ourselves up as a responsible business – but what do we do as a business that also contributes to the greater good?

That’s where

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘DATA IS JUST THE BEGINNING’ 07 our data, technology and expertise

energy in the same timeframe,

come in. We have positioned ourselves

and we’re going to reduce our own

at the heart of an ecosystem of change

carbon emissions by, on average,

makers, and use our data to empower

10% every year for the next five years.

investors to shift towards sustainable

We have to hold ourselves to account;

finance. If we can do that, it really starts

we have to put a marker in the ground

to unlock something that is meaningful

that says ‘that’s what we’re aiming

at scale.”

for and this is why we’re aiming for it’.

If you don’t set targets, that’s when

TARGETS

things slip.” As part of its commitment

Internally, Refinitiv has instituted

to representing and supporting

specific, time-dependent targets.

the communities in which it operates,

“We’re going to be carbon neutral by

Refinitiv has also promised to double

2020,” says Manning. “We’re going

its community investment programme

to be 100% powered by renewable

engagement by 2020, as well as have w w w.re f i nit iv. com

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40% of its senior leadership roles filled

ing schoolgirls in India,” he says.

by women.

“That’s where the real, true value

The organisation’s targets dovetail with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but for Manning,

of measuring the impact of those SDGs comes through.”

The spirit of using targets to drive

simple alignment is not enough. “We’re

performance extends to Refinitiv’s

trying to focus on the targets beneath

product offering. “It’s always healthy

the logos. There are 169 underlying

to benchmark performance; ESG

targets, and they are a lot harder to hit.”

is no different,” says Manning.

To achieve this, Refinitiv’s sustainability

“We have over 400 metrics that drive

team coordinates global, centralised

transparency and comparability in the

campaigns as well as local action via

market and that can only be a positive.”

volunteer teams. “It could be beach

Beyond holding companies to account,

cleaning in the Philippines, or mentor-

having an idea of competitors’ perfor-

mance can have a clarifying effect.

On the contrary, some of the challenge

“If you know what you’re comparing

has simply been ensuring that enthusi-

against, you have a frame of reference,

asm translates into definitive action.

and it’s much easier to make a decision.

“There’s absolutely no shortage

What data does is drive clarity, and it’s

of buy-in and support from across

clarity that can drive decisions. If you

the business for the sustainability work

don’t have that data, all you’re really

– right the way through from the CEO

going on is an opinion,” he adds.

to the front line. Every day there are new ideas originating throughout the

CULTURE

business. It’s about how we bottle

Manning hasn’t encountered any lack

up that enthusiasm and keep up the

of appetite for sustainability at Refinitiv.

momentum.” Such is the prominence

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

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Luke Manning Manning leads the sustainability function for Refinitiv, as part of the global strategy leadership team – developing Refinitiv’s position as a sustainable and responsible business, addressing the effect of its operational and environmental footprint, and harnessing its expertise, technology and data to drive positive social change Formerly a freelance journalist, Manning has subsequently specialised in developing and communicating core business strategies with tangible commercial, reputational and social impact. Prior to his current role, he worked with a number of global organisations in senior leadership and consulting positions, including Thomson Reuters, Balfour Beatty, Barclays Bank and Kier Group.

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“ We’ll make sure that when it comes to the provision of sustainability-related data and analytics, we’ll absolutely be best in class” — Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability and Strategic Initiatives

of sustainability at the company that it even plays a role in attracting talent.

“It’s a given that sustainability is the right thing to do, and that’s what people are demanding now. At every point in the induction lifecycle when people decide to come and work here, these are the questions that come up increasingly frequently: ‘What do you stand for? What are your policies, your goals and your pledges when it comes to environmental and social initiatives?’”

The community nature of sustainability at Refinitiv can in part be credited to its youth. “As a standalone business, we are still brand new,” says Manning.

“We’re not even a year old yet. It’s really a privileged position to be in, to be able to make sure that sustainability is at the heart of building our culture and our values.” It’s clear that the opportunity has been comprehensively harnessed at Refinitiv, but in line with its dual concept of sustainability, Manning stresses the need for others to do the same, and the company provides the tools to achieve just that.

“Collective action is our mantra for this.

Data underpins the process and w w w.re f i nit iv. com

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our tagline is ‘data is just the beginning’.

We have a part to play, but we need to do it with everyone else – whether that’s other businesses, partners, competitors, governments or individuals – we all have to do it together to solve it. We’ll make sure that when it comes to the provision of data and analytics, we’ll absolutely be best in class.”

SUSTAINABLE FINANCE “Sustainable finance is shifting funding to investments that take more than just 12

financial considerations into account – investments which put a value on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors” says Manning.

Refinitiv offers the tools to make sustainable finance a reality for its customers across a range of ESG

$1.56Mn First quarter revenue ‘19

data and risk products. “If a customer is looking to invest in these sustainable initiatives, we provide the transparent data and analysis to allow comparability. This is fundamental in reorienting capital to sustainable investments.”

The company’s ESG data must overcome some hurdles to achieve parity with its more conventional financial data. “Globally, there’s very

2018

Year founded

London Offices

inconsistent reporting on ESG data.

When financial institutions come to weave these data points into their proprietary models, it’s still quite hard to do so unless you provide a degree of standardisation and harmonisation” says Manning. This is where Refinitiv’s work comes to the fore, ensuring that data is transparent, usable and relevant. The more ESG data is used, the more its prominence increases and the higher its quality becomes, as Manning explains: “Now, corporate, regulators, institutional investors and capital rating professionals are all becoming increasingly aware of the importance of ESG data.

That’s driving up the standard as they’ll have to use it day in, day out to get positive financial outcomes.”

Refinitiv is trusted not only to provide this information, but to present it in the manner required by its customers.

“We’re the leading provider of ESG data. We cover 8,000 companies, represent 70% of the global market cap and have over 400 data points included. We also carry information on ESG bonds, loans, carbon and renewables pricing data and financial crime information. This all aggregates w w w.re f i nit iv. com

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to provide a bigger picture,” Manning explains. “For example, we create a composite score consisting of environmental, social and governance pillars, and things like ESG controversies. We take that data, we make it valuable and useful, and then present it in such a way that it can be easily consumed at speed and at scale.” The global reach of Refinitiv’s data has seen the firm partner with organisations including the European Commission, the United Nations and the World Economic 14

Forum. With the latter, they have created the Sustainable Leadership Monitor, an analytics app which allows the measurement of the long—term sustainability progress of publicly listed companies, underpinning

and passion for sustainability, which

Refinitiv’s commitment to providing

itself is integral to the sustainable

the information necessary for collec-

finance products and services

tive leadership and decision making.

it provides. Such clarity of purpose

Ultimately, Refinitiv’s clear and

is vital when facing the rapidly evolving,

comprehensive strategy ensures

unpredictable challenges sustainability

the cause of sustainability is placed

presents. “From an environmental

at the very heart of its business model,

perspective, it’s clear that we have this

with the values it holds being translated

increasingly narrow window to address

into clear goals. These goals then help

the threat that we face,” says Manning.

to inform and create the culture

“Current models of consumption

of company-wide participation

and industrialisation are not going

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to support the exponentially growing

offers the opportunity to resolve

population. If you look at what busi-

that tension and drive outcomes

nesses face, particularly, there’s

that are positive in both a sustainable

a new paradigm that requires the

and business sense.

creation of long-term practices that respect the environment, the wellbeing of employees and the prospects of future generations, whilst still making money, improving profitability, funding innovation and achieving an increased market share.� Refinitiv’s implementation of sustainable finance w w w.re f i nit iv. com

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