Bloomberg Makes U.S. Equity Index Debut With ESG Benchmarks

By Dieter Holger

Bloomberg LP has entered into the U.S. equity index market equipped with environmental, social and governance benchmarks as it aims to win over clients in the crowded ESG data market.

"We are responding to requests from investors to offer comprehensive and competitive equity index solutions to help our existing index clients address their needs," said Steve Berkley, global head of Bloomberg Indices.

The New York-based market intelligence company has launched a total of 11 indexes on U.S. companies, six of which are ESG-focused, Bloomberg said Tuesday.

ESG indexes are based on work by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, which determines the ESG issues most significant to a given industry, Bloomberg said. Bloomberg partnered with investment manager State Street Global Advisors to gain access to its in-house ESG scoring system, called R-Factor.

"This transparency allows companies to know what to manage and disclose in order to improve their performance," said Rakhi Kumar, head of ESG investments and asset stewardship for State Street Global Advisors.

Bloomberg already offers fixed-income, commodity and currency indices and ESG data on more than 11,500 companies. In 2016, there were more than 125 ESG data providers, according to the Global Initiative for Sustainability Ratings, while market research firm MSCI Inc. (MSCI) already boasts more than 1,000 ESG indexes.

Write to Dieter Holger at [e-mail]; @dieterholger

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 17, 2019 11:21 ET (15:21 GMT)

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