SASB’s Sustainable Industry Classification System™ (SICS™) groups industries in order to acknowledge their resource intensity as well as their sustainability innovation potential. SICS is structured in 3 levels:
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LEVEL 1 – THEMATIC SECTORS
- Maps to standard classification systems (e.g., BICS, GICS).
- SICS can be viewed both according to traditional sectors and thematic ones.
- Useful for asset allocation purposes.
LEVEL 2 – INDUSTRY GROUPS
- Industry working groups are convened at this level contributing to SASB’s standards development process.
- Groupings based on sustainability impact and potential similarities enable operational synergies in the standards development process.
LEVEL 3 – INDUSTRIES
- Standards will be developed at this level. SASB developed a SICS look-up tool, powered by Bloomberg, for companies to find which SICS industry they are in and therefore which standards are applicable. Click here to go to the SICS look-up tool.
- Companies are classified at this level; multiple industry classification is possible thanks to BICS (i.e., primary, secondary and tertiary industry).
- All SICS industries map back to at least one BICS industry (sometimes more and at different levels).
SICS and its 89 industries can be viewed in two ways
The purpose of the following diagram is to illustrate how thinking about industries from a sustainability point of view corresponds with a shift in how they are classified at the sector level, grouping industries according to their sustainability impacts and opportunities, rather than by their primary source of revenue as is traditional.
The TRADITIONAL VIEW allows the categorization of SICS industries (represented by the outer rings in both graphs below) under the ten traditional sectors commonly used in other mainstream industry classification systems. Investors will find this view useful for sector asset allocation targets.
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The SUSTAINABILITY VIEW, on the other hand, groups these same 89 industries under 10 thematic sectors to highlight common sustainability challenges and opportunities. This view challenges traditional industry classification thinking and helps investors manage their exposure to sustainability-related risks.
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Bloomberg Industry Classification System
SASB’s SICS is powered by the Bloomberg Industry Classification System. SASB leverages the Bloomberg Industry Classification System to identify which industry companies are assigned to. SICS builds on this, not by reclassifying companies into new industries, but rather by organizing industries into new groups (Industry Groups and Sectors) that more fully reflect their common sustainability impacts and opportunities.
