Why Investors Use SASB Standards
Leading global investors want to evaluate how companies are managing the environmental, social, and governance factors that also impact financial performance. However, they have historically lacked access to comparable, standardized data they need to inform their decisions.
SASB Standards, which are uniquely tailored for investors, help address this need. Because they are industry-based, metric-driven, and focused on financial materiality, SASB Standards enable integration of sustainability considerations into investment and stewardship decisions across global portfolios and asset classes. They also provide investors with comparable data that feeds the data and analytics ecosystem.
Leading international investors support SASB Standards as a fundamental way for companies to communicate financially material sustainability information to investors in an industry-based and comparable way. These investors—across markets, asset classes, and strategies—use SASB Standards to integrate sustainability considerations into their investment decisions.
As of August 2022, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) of the IFRS Foundation assumed responsibility for the SASB Standards. The ISSB has committed to build on the industry-based SASB Standards and leverage SASB’s industry-based approach to standards development. This commitment includes a prominent role for SASB Standards in the IFRS Sustainability Exposure Drafts, which leading global investors support. The ISSB encourages investors and businesses to continue to provide full support for and to use the SASB Standards until IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards replace SASB Standards.
SASB Standards help investors…
- Access corporate sustainability data that is comparable, consistent, and material to long-term enterprise value creation
- Identify priority issues for corporate engagement
- Improve the quality of fundamental equity and credit analysis in both public and private markets by incorporating a broader information set beyond financial statements
- Expand risk reporting to encompass sustainability risks in addition to traditional risk measures like volatility
- Develop a better understanding of sector-specific risks to inform risk allocation and risk management
- Fulfill PRI signatory commitments
Click here to learn more about how investors use SASB Standards.