CSRHub & RepRisk study links CSR Performance & Reputational Risk

May 13, 2015 10:40 AM ET

New York, NY, USA and Zurich, Switzerland, May 13, 2015 /3BL Media/ – CSRHub and RepRisk are pleased to announce the findings of their joint research report on the link between perceived CSR performance and ESG-related reputational risk exposure.

CSRHub, the world’s largest CSR and sustainability ratings and information database, and RepRisk, the leading data provider of dynamic environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk analysis and metrics, combined several years of data on over 4,000 companies from the around the world to conduct the study.

The findings show that correlations do exist between perceived CSR performance and reputational risk. It appears that companies with the most sources of sustainability ratings also have the highest risk exposure, regardless of company revenue or market capitalization, and that sustainability rating sources can play a role in discovering and communicating corporate risk events.

In addition, the data indicates that companies that have strong CSR programs as measured by CSRHub, in the areas of Human Rights and Supply Chain, Leadership Ethics, and Resource Management, seem to have lower risk exposure, whereas those companies who have strong programs in Community Development and Philanthropy, Environment Policy and Reporting, or Compensation and Benefits seem to have higher risk exposure.

“Taken together, our findings suggest that corporate risk managers should seek to become involved in their company’s corporate responsibility and sustainability programs,” said Bahar Gidwani, CEO and Co-Founder of CSRHub.

Alexandra Mihailescu Cichon, Head of Business Development at RepRisk, said “This study was a step forward in demonstrating the link between sustainability and operating results, and helps support the idea that sustainability programs help mitigate corporate risk.”

To read the full report, please click here.

 

Contact

For CSRHub:
Bahar Gidwani
CEO and Co-Founder
New York, NY  U.S.A.
Email: bahar@csrhub.com

For RepRisk:
Gina Walser
Business Development and Marketing
Stampfenbachstrasse 42, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
Phone: +41 43 300 54 48
Email: media@reprisk.com

 

About CSRHub
CSRHub provides access to corporate social responsibility and sustainability ratings and information on 14,400+ companies from 135 industries in 127 countries based on 12 indicators of employee, environment, community and governance performance and flags many special issues.

CSRHub’s system aggregates and normalizes 64 million data points from over 380+ data sources. The data comes from nine socially responsible investing research firms, well-known indexes, publications, “best of” or “worst of” lists, NGOs, crowd sources and government agencies. By aggregating and normalizing the information from these sources, CSRHub has created a broad, consistent rating system and a searchable database that links each rating point back to its source.

For more information about the usage and benefits of CSRHub, please visit: www.csrhub.com.

About RepRisk:
RepRisk is a leading business intelligence provider specializing in dynamic environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk analytics and metrics.

Daily, RepRisk systematically screens big data from a broad range of open intelligence sources in 15 languages in order to identify, filter, analyze and quantify ESG risks (such as environmental degradation, human rights abuses and corruption) related to companies, projects, sectors and countries. This external perspective provides valuable insight on whether a company’s policies, processes and commitments are consistently translating into performance.

Since 2006, RepRisk has built and continues to grow the most comprehensive ESG risk database that serves as a due diligence tool and early warning system in risk management, compliance, investment management, corporate benchmarking and supplier risk. The database currently includes risk profiles for over 52,000 public and private companies and 12,000 projects as well as for every sector and country in the world.

Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, RepRisk serves clients worldwide including global banks, insurance companies, investment managers, and corporates, helping them to manage and mitigate ESG and reputational risks in day-to-day business.

RepRisk provides the transparency needed to enable better, more informed decisions. For more information, please visit www.reprisk.com or follow us on Twitter.