For those private companies that have been feeling neglected by proxy advisor ISS's rating services/products, note that ISS ESG announced its launch yesterday of ISS ESG Scorecards aimed at facilitating the conduct of private company ESG performance and risk assessments by private equity firms and other financial institutions. The new scorecard, which reportedly is based on the ISS ESG Corporate Rating methodology, currently covers 19 industries, with more planned to be added.
ISS suggests these possible uses of the scorecard:
- Credit risk assessmentc - Evaluate ESG risks of private companies during the credit risk assessment process.
- Reporting - Determine the exposure and impact of portfolio companies concerning key sustainability topics.
- Private equity - Assess sustainability risks of companies during due diligence processes to identify potential new portfolio companies.
- Sustainability engagement & financial advisory - Create a baseline for strategic dialogues with portfolio companies to guide and strengthen their sustainability efforts and define concrete targets.
- ESG conditionality in public sector bailout loans - Integrate ESG aspects when structuring bailout loans.
See this ESG Today article.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!