Press Releases
ASSET4 Makes ESG Monitoring Easy and Dynamic
Zug, Switzerland July 01, 2008
ASSET4 AG, the leading provider of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) information, today announced that it has just made monitoring extra-financial key performance indicators (KPIs) easy and dynamic with its new one-click ESG and ESG news tracking capabilities.
The new one-click ESG functionality now available from ASSET4 allows users to generate easy-to-read analysis and benchmarking reports on the ESG performance of a company against its peers based on 90 customisable KPIs with a single click of the mouse.
The assetmasterProfessional™ news functionality announced today enables users to dynamically monitor the news flow for any or all of the eighteen data categories within the system, such as emission reduction, human rights and health & safety. These criteria can be monitored for a single company, portfolio, sector or geographic region.
“ESG factors have now clearly become a mainstream concern for the financial community and the corporate world as a whole. Therefore, we realised that it was necessary to make this information more dynamic and easier to use, which is why we announced the one-click ESG and ESG news tracking capabilities today,” said Peter Ohnemus, ASSET4 CEO and President. “Having the ability to create a one-click ESG view of key KPIs enables clients to efficiently monitor the issues affecting them. assetmasterProfessional™ users can still view the complete range of data points and KPIs that we maintain on our universe of companies, but the one-click ESG functionality will provide a new way of visualising and understanding this at times complex information."
"The importance of the news functionality comes from the fact that while a company’s ESG performance is clearly based on long-term and strategic management decisions, day-to-day events also play an important part in valuation and reputation. Having the ability to dynamically monitor events based on very specific ESG criteria allows our users to stay ahead of the game in their analysis,” said Mr. Ohnemus.
For a printable PDF of this release, click here.
To read the entire article in German, please click
here.
To read the entire article in French, please click here.
SIRP, a Leading CSR Research Institute, to Incorporate ASSET4’s Investment Information into Their Analysis
Zug, Switzerland and Umeå, Sweden, June 17, 2008
The Sustainable Investment Research Platform (SIRP), whose mission is to enhance the understanding of the economic value of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ASSET4 AG, the leading provider of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) information, today jointly announced that SIRP has acquired a subscription for the ASSET4 information solution. SIRP plans on using the data to investigate issues such as: Does CSR improve the profitability of companies? Is CSR valued and rewarded in financial markets? How do companies create and maintain intangible values inherent in CSR?
“With access to ASSET4’s objective and comprehensive ESG data the researchers that collaborate through our platform can now focus on their research topics without having to collect the data themselves,“ said Professor Lars Hassel, Director of SIRP. “SIRP was founded at Umeå University’s School of Business in 2006 and has produced a number of well-received academic studies on the business case for sustainable development. Having the ability to access ASSET4’s predefined key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as create own, will allow us to more efficiently and effectively focus on our mission—researching the economic value of corporate social responsibility.”
“As an ASSET4 university partner, we believe that SIRP can play an important role in investigating the impact of ESG issues on corporate and market performance,” said Henrik Steffensen, ASSET4’s VP of Business Development. “The questions that SIRP is asking about sustainable development are the questions our clients and prospects are also asking. We believe that supporting this analytical research is a key to the continued growth and acceptance of sustainable development by the business community and the market. We look forward to being in dialogue with SIRP as we both strive to make sustainable development the accepted best practice for the world’s leading companies.”
Sustainable Investment Research Platform (SIRP)
SIRP is a research consortium on sustainable investments founded by the Mistra (www.mistra.org) Sustainable Investment Research Platform and led by Professor Lars Hassel at Umeå School of Business at Umeå University. The research programme was initiated January 1st 2006 and Mistra has this June decided to prolong the research program by providing additional 40 MSEK (4.3 M€) to the end of 2012. The Sustainable investment Research Platform is also a supporting partner to the annual Financial Times Sustainable Banking Conference and Awards in London and is the 2008 winner of the Globe Award recognising the leading CSR research institute in Sweden. For more information, please visit www.sirp.se.
For a printable PDF of this release, click here.
Merrill Lynch to Market Alternative Research Through a New Service Called Merrill Open Minds
New York, United States, April 09, 2008
Launches Merrill Open Minds with Seven Alternative Research Providers
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) today launched Merrill Open Minds, a service that makes available alternative research products and services as a complement to the firm’s industry-leading fundamental research and analysis. The new service addresses the increasing demand from hedge funds, mutual funds and other institutions for a broader array of specialized research resources to help them make investment decisions.
Merrill Open Minds has reached agreement initially with seven alternative research providers with expertise in extra-financial information, corporate integrity risk, federal policy, healthcare, media, energy and consumer surveys. They are: Asset 4; Audit Integrity; Cypress Group; Decision Resources; Global Media Intelligence; HPDI and Primary Source. Further information about each of these services is available through the newly launched Merrill Open Minds website at: www.merrillopenminds.ml.com.
Merrill Lynch will market these research providers to institutional trading clients through the firm’s global institutional and sector specialist sales teams.
“Our research, sales and trading professionals are uniquely positioned to identify alternative research providers with specialized expertise relevant to our clients’ investment processes,” said Michael Stewart, head of Global Cash Equities at Merrill Lynch. “Merrill Open Minds provides an efficient way for our clients to access these specialized third-party providers.”
Merrill Lynch specifically chose alliances that complement the firm’s own industry-leading research products.
“Making third-party research available through Merrill Lynch will enrich our interaction with our clients as they engage in the dynamic process of evaluating investments,” said Candace Browning, president of Global Research at Merrill Lynch. “Merrill Open Minds will marry our award-winning in-house fundamental investment research with a broader set of different kinds of services, providing our institutional clients with complementary content offerings.”
Offering access to these research providers will not only enable Merrill Lynch to participate in the fast-growing third-party research market, but also adds value to Merrill Lynch's leading global execution platform.
“The third-party research market is currently worth $1.5 billion and is experiencing double-digit growth every year,” said Mr. Stewart. “Moreover, trading volumes are correlated with quality research content, and by complementing our proprietary research with third-party content, we expect to attract incremental trading volumes.”
Third-party providers aligning with Merrill Open Minds will benefit from the breadth and expertise of Merrill Lynch’s global sales platform.
“We chose Merrill Open Minds because Merrill Lynch has the whole package -- highly-regarded fundamental research, a high-touch generalist and sector specialist sales teams that can bring the right product to the right client, and a world-class trading platform,” said Peter Hoenigsberg, chief executive officer of Decision Resources, Inc. “They help us understand how to present and tailor our research offering specifically to the needs of key asset managers.”
About The Resources Available Through Merrill Open Minds
ASSET4 provides objective and measurable extra-financial information, incorporating a complete range of economic, environmental, social and governance (EESG) information. This information enables users to improve investment performance, reduce risk, develop innovative products and drive down research costs.
Audit Integrity rates more than 8,000 public corporations for corporate integrity risk. These proprietary ratings and analyses are used by investors, insurers, auditors and corporate finance professionals to identify and avoid high risk companies. Audit Integrity also forecasts risks involving equity performance, class action litigation, and material financial restatement.
Cypress Group provides insight on Washington policy to investment managers who are seeking to inform their analysis of financial services, health care and other sectors as well as M&A activity and other events. Cypress provides an edge to investment managers by using a rigorous research methodology and diverse network of Washington sources to forecast the probable outcome of policy changes.
Decision Resources, Inc. provides research on the trends, emerging developments, and market potential in various healthcare industry sectors, as well as advisory and consulting services. Its client base includes large pharmaceutical companies, emerging biotechnology concerns, financial services, managed care organizations, and medical device manufacturers looking for research and advisory services to help shape their strategy.
Global Media Intelligence is a premiere source of data, analyses and forecasts for the global media industry, with a team of over 40 media analysts providing detailed models and industry reports covering television, motion pictures, video games, mobile media, home entertainment and broadband media. A part of Screen Digest, its client base includes many significant cable, media and entertainment companies looking to gain insight on market dynamics globally.
HPDI, LLC collates historic data on oil and gas production, drilling permits, transportation, gas plants, refineries and pricing and provides clients customized applications in order to format the data for GIS maps, charts, reports and exports for secondary applications. The products are used by many large oil and gas producers and pipelines in their analysis of oil and gas production trends.
Primary Source is a Merrill Lynch product offering, providing customized consumer market studies that give clients information about a product or service from the perspective of the end user. The goal is to provide clients with extensive, statistically-reliable, and properly-interpreted channel information by conducting surveys of end users. Primary Source clients typically receive their reports and analyses within a week.
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies, with offices in 40 countries and territories and total client assets of almost $2 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management companies, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.
Ethical Funds Enhances Its Review Process by Acquiring ASSET4’s Investment Information Solution
Vancouver, Canada - Zug, Switzerland, March 03, 2008
The Ethical Funds Company, a national investment firm and leader of the socially responsible investing (SRI) industry in Canada for over 20 years and ASSET4 AG, the leading provider of objective and measurable environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) information, today jointly announced that Ethical Funds acquired a subscription for the ASSET4 information solution. Ethical Funds plans to integrate ASSET4 information into its proprietary Corporate Sustainability Scorecard processes that it uses to manage its $2.7 billion in assets under management.
“We have made a commitment to ‘reinvent how people see profit’ and to achieve that we take a holistic approach to evaluating corporate performance,” said Robert Walker, Vice President Sustainability, Ethical Funds. “At the heart of these processes are ESG data. With the ASSET4 information system, including their global focus, we now have access to the most comprehensive source of environmental, social and governance data available today. This information will integrate seamlessly into our existing processes enabling our Sustainability Analysts to focus on what they do best: apply our proprietary metrics to evaluate, analyze, and grade the sustainability performance of investment prospects and the companies we own.”
“Ethical Funds is a leader in the SRI investment industry in Canada and has an established, sophisticated process to evaluate the overall financial and ESG performance of companies,” said Ted Yarnell, Vice President and General Manager of ASSET4’s business in the Americas. “Our assetmasterProfessional™ system gives Ethical Funds access to a broader range of ESG information than they have had before and frees up their analysts from the time-consuming task of collecting the data themselves. By integrating the ASSET4’s objective and auditable information directly into the day-to-day processes of the Ethical Funds sustainability analysts, the analysts can now concentrate on interpreting the information and grading the sustainability performance of companies.”
The Ethical Funds Company
Launched in 1992, Ethical Funds is Canada’s leading manager of socially responsible mutual funds, delivering a successful track-record of combing financial performance with making good companies better. Ethical Funds has multiple award-winning funds and Canada’s largest team of sustainability analysts. Ethical Funds is owned by Northwest & Ethical Investments LP.ASSET4 Named a "Red Herring 100 Global" Award Winner
Zug, Switzerland, December 07, 2007
ASSET4 announced today that it has been selected as a winner of the Red Herring 100 Global Award.
Red Herring 100 winners and finalists from North America, Europe and Asia of the last three years were eligible for this award. The Red Herring editorial team used a very competitive process to whittle down this pool of 1800 eligible promising companies to the 100 winners of this first-time award. Evaluations were made on both quantitative and qualitative criteria such as financial performance, innovation, management, global strategy and ecosystem integration.
“ASSET4 is extremely proud that we are a winner of the ’Red Herring 100 Global‘ Award. This prize is another indication of the importance of our highly innovative solution and the growing significance of extra-financial information in today’s investment world. ASSET4 offers professional investors a new generation of investment research information and tools to assist them in better understanding the need to work with a complete range of corporate EESG (economic, environmental, social and governance) information. Up until now only purely financial information has been available, but we are changing all that with our solution,” explained Peter Ohnemus, CEO and President of ASSET4.
The winning companies were announced and celebrated at the Red Herring Global event in Seattle, WA, on December 3-5.
About ASSET4
ASSET4 provides professional investors a new generation of investment research information enabling them to incorporate objective and measurable ESG (environmental, social, governance) information into their investment processes. The ASSET4 information and tools enable clients to improve investment performance, reduce risk, develop innovative products, drive down research costs and monitor the ESG aspects of their portfolios. ASSET4 has 200 employees and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland with locations in London, New York, Mauritius and India. It is a proud signatory of the UN's Principles for Responsible Investment.About Red Herring
Red Herring is a global media company uniting the world’s best high technology innovators, venture investors and business decision makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation magazine; an online daily technology news service; technology research, and major events for technology leaders around the globe. Red Herring provides an insider’s access to the global innovation economy, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies driving the economy. For more information, visit www.redherring.com.ASSET4 to Provide BNP Paribas Asset Management with a New Generation of Investment Research Information
Paris, France - Zug, Switzerland, October 03, 2007
ASSET4 Ltd, a leading provider of corporate ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) information, today announced that BNP Paribas Asset Management, a leader in the European asset management industry, has acquired a global license for the ASSET4 information solution. BNPP AM plans to integrate ASSET4 information into its Responsible investment research, product structuring and portfolio management.
"BNP Paribas Asset Management is a widely recognised asset management leader offering a broad range of innovative products. Their commitment to integrating objective and measurable ESG information into their portfolio monitoring demonstrates a true responsiveness to the needs of the market and to the increasing importance of these issues for mainstream, professional, performance-oriented asset management," said Peter Ohnemus, CEO and President of ASSET4.
The ASSET4 solution offers investment professionals the only source for comprehensive and impartial ESG information, as well as the tools necessary to track, analyze and benchmark the practices and performance of their funds, portfolios and companies. By monitoring 900 specific economic, environmental, social and governance data points, the ASSET4 system enables users to see beyond the purely financial aspects of corporate performance, which are today believed to represent less than 20% of a company’s market value. This more complete view enables asset managers, like BNPP AM, to improve investment performance, reduce risk, develop innovative products, drive down research costs and monitor the ESG aspects of their portfolios.
Eric Borremans, Head of Sustainability Research at BNP Paribas Asset Management, stated, "BNP Paribas Asset Management is a recognised global leader in the field of responsible investment. By acquiring the ASSET4 information solution, we are enhancing our ability to address the increasing demand from pension funds and other clients to apply sustainability criteria when managing their assets. We can now utilise the ASSET4 system to actively and systematically manage the responsible investment frameworks defined by a growing number of our clients. ASSET4 is a comprehensive, impartial and scalable source of ESG information available. The system enables us at any time to trace back what information we are basing our recommendations on for audit purposes, as well as to create added-value capabilities for our clients such as ESG strengths and weaknesses analyses. We believe that this new information source will allow us to expand the scope of our research universe and ESG analyses."
Sustainable and responsible investment has, since 2002, occupied a major place in BNPP AM’s activities and is reflected in their leading role in several initiatives on subjects such as the transparency of management processes, support for extra-financial research, and key issues such as climate change, social reinsertion and support for academic research. BNPP AM is a founding member of the Enhanced Analytics Initiative, an international initiative created by pension funds and asset management companies with the aim of encouraging stockbrokers and independent research companies to take extra-financial criteria into account.
BNP Paribas Asset Management
BNP Paribas Asset Management is a European leader in traditional, indexed and structured investment management. Original core activity of BNP Paribas Investment Partners, BNP Paribas Asset Management has euro 244 billion of assets under management*, and more than 800 people servicing clients in 69 countries. It offers a wide range of management capabilities with a shared focus on innovation, robustness and consistency of investment processes as well as accuracy of risk control. BNP Paribas Asset Management’s excellence is reflected by Fitch’s second-highest rating: M2. For more information, please visit www.bnpparibas-am.com.
* Figures as at 30 June 2007, assets under advisory included.
ASSET4 AG
ASSET4 provides a new generation of investment research information to professional investors allowing them to incorporate objective and measurable ESG (environmental, social, governance) information into their decision-making processes. The ASSET4 information and tools enable clients to improve investment performance, reduce risk, develop innovative products, drive down research costs and monitor the ESG aspects of their portfolios. ASSET4 has 200 employees and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland with locations in London, New York and Mauritius. It is a proud signatory of the United Nation's Principles for Responsible Investment. For more information, please visit www.asset4.com.To read the entire article in German, please click here.
To read the entire article in French, please click here.
ASSET4 announces strategic relationship with Merrill Lynch
New York, USA - Zug, Switzerland, September 27, 2007
- Merrill Lynch acquires global license to incorporate ASSET4’s investment information
- Merrill Lynch takes minority equity stake in ASSET4
ASSET4 Ltd, a leading provider of corporate ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) information announced today that Merrill Lynch has entered into a strategic marketing relationship with ASSET4 and has acquired a global license to incorporate ASSET4’s integrated ESG investment information into its investment research and product structuring. In addition, Merrill Lynch has made a minority investment in ASSET4.
Mike Stewart, head of Global Cash Equities at Merrill Lynch, stated, “We recognize the growing importance of ESG information to the investing and corporate community and believe ASSET4 is a global leader in providing such information."
Added Candace Browning, president of Merrill Lynch Global Research, “The ASSET4 framework enhances our ability to address the increasing demand from individual and institutional clients to review sustainability criteria. This new information source will allow Merrill Lynch analysts to augment their research analyses by also evaluating the non-financial aspects of companies.”
“This agreement with Merrill Lynch is another major win for ASSET4 and another indication that we are the leading provider of extra-financial information. In our hyper-transparent world, leading asset managers are clearly recognizing the need for precise, quantifiable ESG information for investment research, quant models, financial products and portfolio monitoring. We are very excited to have one of the foremost players in the wealth management and capital markets industries as a client and non-controlling investor. With Merrill Lynch and other leading financial institutions behind ASSET4, we are setting the standard for a new generation of investment research information,” said Peter Ohnemus, CEO, president and co-founder of ASSET4.
The ASSET4 solution offers investment professionals with a premiere source for comprehensive and impartial ESG information, as well as the tools necessary to track, analyze and benchmark the practices and performance of their funds, portfolios and companies. By monitoring 900 specific economic, environmental, social and governance data points, the ASSET4 system enables users to see beyond the purely financial aspects of corporate performance.
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies, with offices in 38 countries and territories and total client assets of approximately $1.7 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management companies, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.
ASSET4 AG
ASSET4 provides a new generation of investment research information to professional investors allowing them to incorporate objective and measurable ESG (environmental, social, governance) information into their decision-making processes. The ASSET4 information and tools enable clients to improve investment performance, reduce risk, develop innovative products, drive down research costs and monitor the ESG aspects of their portfolios. ASSET4 has 200 employees and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland with locations in London, New York and Mauritius. It is a proud signatory of the United Nation's Principles for Responsible Investment.To read the entire article in German, please click here.
To read the entire article in French, please click here.
INrate Gets Access to ASSET4’s Worldwide Research Information
Zürich and Zug, Switzerland, September, 2007
INrate, the largest independent Swiss sustainability rating agency is now increasing their analysis capabilities in order to enhance their range of services for their clients. Through their agreement with ASSET4, INrate will get access to the ASSET4 system, which is the largest system worldwide including information on the full range of environmental, social and corporate governance issues on the world’s largest companies.
With this new cooperative agreement, INrate the largest and independent Swiss rating agency reaches another milestone in their history. INrate is professionalizing their rating processes for sustainable investing on two levels.
Advantage based on permanent access to published corporate data
Modern sustainability research is topic-oriented (e.g. climate), analyses the characteristics of companies (e.g. water consumption or energy consumption) worldwide and offers the possibility to implement an individual sustainability profile (e.g. select exclusion criteria). With the permanent access to the worldwide data of ASSET4, INrate can guarantee the quality and flexibility of their information sources that the market demands. The possibility to customize the information according to specific needs and to put them together in a flexible manner is a substantial advantage of the ASSET4 system.
Christoph Müller, Chair of Board of Directors, explains, "ASSET4 offers the INrate analysts 24-hour access to publicly available corporate data worldwide. This enables us to know more details about companies in an efficient manner and to further develop our services."
Unique rating method: Various level of analyses lead to transparency and to added value
An important aspect of the more developed analysis capabilities from INrate is the structuring of their rating processes. These processes will include the following steps: INrate
- Analyses and assesses the data from ASSET4
- Gets further information directly from the companies
- Creates their own analyses about sector-specific sustainable performance data
From this base of information, INrate then creates a comprehensive rating of companies. Collecting information and the evaluation of this data is clearly separated from the analysis and the judgment. This is a new procedure for the creation of sustainability ratings and will provide a real added value for their customers.
Peter Ohnemus, CEO and President of ASSET4, is looking forward to the cooperation with INrate, "As an independent sustainability rating agency, INrate has the highest demands about the comparability and accuracy of the information that is underlying their ratings. We are very proud that we could win another future-oriented partner for our system. The concentration on core competencies, such as the gathering of information or analysis/interpretation, which we know from traditional financial analysis, is trailblazing for sustainability analysis."
INrate AG
INrate is the largest independent Swiss rating agency, which analyses and evaluates the environmental and social sustainability of companies, institutions and countries. Based on these ratings, INrate builds investment universes and themed indices or baskets, which serve the asset managers and financial services providers as the foundation for the creation of sustainable and financially attractive portfolios and investment products. INrate provides the sustainable investment universe for the Future Swiss Stock Fund from Raiffeisen Bank, which in 2007 again won the Lipper Fund Award in the Swiss stock category. The fund achieved higher three-year and five-year performance of any other stocks in its category.
ASSET4 AG
ASSET4 provides professional investors a new generation of investment research information enabling them to incorporate objective and measurable ESG (environmental, social, governance) information into their investment processes. The ASSET4 information and tools enable clients to improve investment performance, reduce risk, develop innovative products, drive down research costs and monitor the ESG aspects of their portfolios. ASSET4 has 200 employees and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland with locations in London, New York, Mauritius and India. It is a proud signatory of the UN's Principles for Responsible Investment.
To read the entire article in German, please click here.
ASSET4 Strengthens Management Team by Hiring Joachim Asbrede as Chief Operating Officer
Zug, Switzerland, August 23, 2007
- Joachim Asbrede joins ASSET4 as Chief Operating Officer.
- Mr. Asbrede brings over 25 years of sales and management experience from the global IT and software industries.
- In addition to managing the company’s global day-to-day operations and sales in continental Europe, Mr. Asbrede will be creating a new professional services organisation.
ASSET4 AG, the leading provider of corporate ESG (1) information for professional investors, today announced that Joachim Asbrede is joining the company as Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Asbrede brings over 25 years of sales and management experience spanning many countries, products and service lines from the global IT and software industries. In addition to managing the company’s global day-to-day operations and sales in continental Europe, Mr. Asbrede will be creating a new professional services organisation.
“As our company continues to grow, adding Joachim Asbrede to our management team is a key step in developing a world-class investment information organisation,” said Peter Ohnemus, ASSET4 CEO and President. “Joachim’s years with large international organisations like Oracle and Baan have given him a depth of operational insight and experience from which our entire company and client base will benefit.”
“Helping guide ASSET4 as it grows its organisation is a great chance for me to use my full range of experience,” said Joachim Asbrede, ASSET4 Chief Operating Officer. “Peter Ohnemus and his team have a done an incredible job over the last three years in developing the leadership position in the investment research information field. It is essential we have world-class processes in place as ASSET4 enters this next stage of growth.”
Prior to joining ASSET4, Joachim Asbrede worked for nine years at Oracle, as Vice President and Managing Director for Switzerland, Austria and Croatia. During this time he led a dramatic turnaround of Oracle’s business operations, while increasing margins and improving performance. Before coming to Oracle, Mr. Asbrede was initially the Managing Director for Germany for Baan Business Systems and later managed acquisitions and divestures for the organisation on a European level.
He started his career with Honeywell Bull in 1979. There he gained a wide-range of experience in his roles as Consulting Manager, Sales Manager, Marketing Manager and eventually as Business Unit Manager on a European level, responsible for the entire software and service business.
Joachim Asbrede sits on the Advisory Board of SIMSA, the Swiss Interactive Media and Software Association and chairs the European Business Consortium, EBUCON AG, providing license management and sales outsourcing services. He holds a Diploma in Economics and is an alumni of London Business School. He is married and has three children. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family and occasionally playing golf. He actively supports a children’s cancer program.
1) Environmental, Social and Governance
Bank Sarasin to license ASSET4 data
Basel/Zug, Switzerland, February 1st, 2007
- ASSET4 to provide Bank Sarasin with environmental, social and governance (ESG) data
- Bank Sarasin expands sustainability investing activities
- ASSET4's ESG data will support Bank Sarasin's Sustainability Research
Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd, a Swiss Private Bank known as one of Europe's leading sustainable investment products developers, and ASSET4 Ltd, a leading provider of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) data on global corporations, today jointly announced that Bank Sarasin is to acquire a global license to use ASSET4's ESG data and framework for its investment research, product structuring and portfolio management processes.
Andreas Knoerzer, Director Sustainable Investments at Bank Sarasin, says: "Sustainable Investment is one of Bank Sarasin's key competencies and is developing very dynamically. The fact that other "big players" have entered the Sustainable Investment business recently supports our conviction that the market will continue its dynamic development. Consequently we will expand this business by assigning additional resources for portfolio management and research. We now utilise the ASSET4 platform to provide data for our Sustainability Research. It is the most comprehensive, scalable and objective ESG database available. It allows expanding our research universe and ESG analyses.”
"Bank Sarasin's sustainable investment products are the industry benchmarks. We are excited to work with a leader in the field of sustainable investing. Bank Sarasin's approach underlines the relevance of ESG factors in the investment process and demonstrates that sustainable investment products are increasingly becoming mainstream ingredients of professional, performance-oriented wealth management," says Peter Ohnemus, CEO and President of ASSET4.
"We are independent and proud of our neutral and objective sustainability analysis, which boosts our credibility with customers. ASSET4's data supports this approach. We can use ASSET4 ESG data as "raw information" for our research while concentrating on ESG analyses and evaluations using our own methodology and client specific modeling," adds Bank Sarasin's Andreas Knoerzer.
"Including extra-financials and intangibles in the investment decision process has fast become best practice in the global asset management industry. Therefore, wealth managers need independent and systematic data on these issues,” explains ASSET4's Peter Ohnemus.
The ASSET4 IntegratedRating™ framework offers investment professionals ESG data and the tools necessary to track, analyze and benchmark the practices and performance of their funds, portfolios and companies. By monitoring over 250 specific economic, environmental, social and governance factors, the ASSET4 system enables users to see beyond the purely financial aspects of companies, thereby benefiting from an integrated perspective of public quoted companies performance.
Bank Sarasin pioneered research of sustainability criteria in 1989 and launched the world's first investment fund based on the concept of eco-efficiency back in 1994. Today its sustainable investment team of 19 employees is one of Europe's largest and most experienced. Bank Sarasin offers customers one-stop shopping for sustainability products. The integration of its experienced research team into the portfolio management process means that their products and advisory services are of unparalleled quality.
To read the entire press release, please click here.
Um die gesamte Pressemitteilung in Deutsch zu lesen, klicken Sie bitte hier
ASSET4 Enters into a Strategic Relationship
with Goldman Sachs
Zug, Switzerland, June 29, 2006
- ASSET4 and Goldman Sachs forge a client marketing alliance
- Goldman Sachs licenses ASSET4 extra-financial information
- Goldman Sachs participates in ASSET4's latest financing round
ASSET4 Ltd, a leading provider of extra-financial data on global corporations, is proud to announce that Goldman Sachs has acquired a global license to incorporate ASSET4's environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) data and framework into their investment research, benchmarking, portfolio monitoring and risk management processes. In addition, Goldman Sachs committed to a minority interest in the latest financing round of ASSET4 and will market the ASSET4 system to its global client base.
“We are excited to work with a leader in the global investment banking industry. This commitment sends a strong signal about the future direction of integrated investment research information,” said Peter Ohnemus, CEO and Chairman of ASSET4. “This further key milestone for ASSET4 comes only days after ASSET4's coverage universe has passed the 700 company mark.”
The ASSET4 IntegratedRating™ framework offers investment professionals and corporate executives the tools necessary to track, analyze and benchmark the practices and performance of their funds, portfolios and companies. By monitoring over 250 specific economic, environmental, social and governance factors, the ASSET4 system enables users to see beyond the purely financial aspects of companies, thereby benefiting from an integrated perspective of corporate performance.
“We believe that the ASSET4 product offering will have broad applicability across our global investor client base” said Michael Sanders, Managing Director in the Equities Division of Goldman Sachs. “It appeals to a range of clients, from institutional investors with socially-responsible investment (SRI) mandates to hedge funds looking for unique sources of alpha generation. We are pleased to have the opportunity to introduce the ASSET4 service to our clients.”
Suzanne Nora Johnson, Vice Chairman of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and Global Head of Investment Research, said: “With increasing frequency, our clients around the world are relying on extra-financial data to gain deeper insights into corporate strategy, governance and financial performance. By integrating ASSET4's system into our global research offering we can provide a unique investment perspective to our investor clients.”
“The recognition of the importance of extra-financials and intangibles has been growing for a number of years now, and this partnership with Goldman Sachs is a clear sign that ESG issues have become an essential requirement to achieve world-class investment research and asset management,” said Henrik Steffensen, VP Marketing and co-founder of ASSET4. “Today, the financial world needs more than ever access to independent and systematic data on these issues.”
ASSET4 evaluates a company by means of a very clear and methodical process. The scientifically validated and model-based evaluation contains no interpretation of the data, and is a result of a range of multivariate statistical analysis methods comparing companies' financial performance with their performance in the extra-financial areas. ASSET4 bases all its analysis on publicly available company information allowing for an objective assessment and benchmarking of company performance.
About ASSET4
ASSET4 is the world's leading provider of comprehensive, integrated and transparent financial and extra-financial information, essential to understand and manage the long-term performance and risk profiles of public quoted corporations. The ASSET4 IntegratedRating™ framework offers investment professionals and corporate executives the tools to track, analyze and benchmark the practices and performance of their portfolios, funds and companies. By monitoring over 250 economic, environmental, social and governance factors, the ASSET4 system enables users to see beyond the purely financial aspects of companies and benefit from a broad and integrated perspective of corporate performance. Users benefit from better-informed investment and strategic decisions, reduced investment research costs and enhanced client-reporting capabilities. The company is headquartered in Switzerland and employs 130 people with a wide range of scientific and business backgrounds.
ASSET4 Expands Its Universe to 500 Companies
Zug, Switzerland, April 20, 2006
ASSET4 is pleased to announce that it now provides its customers in-depth, transparent and integrated information on 500 of the world's leading corporations. By gathering and validating data on over 250 specific economic, environmental, social and governance factors for each company in its universe, ASSET4 has created the largest collection of integrated financial and extra-financial information in the world.
However, ASSET4 is not stopping there. It is committed to continuing to expand its reach. The rapid growth of the universe, which consisted of 160 corporations at the end of 2005, will continue until it includes more than 1200 companies by the end of 2006 and all 3000 organizations within the MCSI World Index.
"Ensuring that our customers have access to systematic and validated financial and extra-financial information on the leading corporations in the world is a fundamental commitment of ASSET4 and reaching 500 companies is an important milestone to achieving that goal," said Henrik Steffensen, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for ASSET4. "Because we are the only organization covering the full spectrum of economic, environmental, social and governance issues in depth, we believe that at this moment the ASSET4 IntegratedRatingTM framework provides the most extensive coverage of intangibles in the industry. We are very proud of our over 100 analysts who have made this rapid growth possible."
ASSET4 evaluates a company by means of a very clear and methodical process against each of the indicators that it tracks. The scientifically validated and model-based evaluation ASSET4 provides contains no interpretation of the data, and is a result of a range of multivariate statistical analysis methods comparing companies' financial performance with their performance in the extra-financial areas.
ASSET4 bases all its analysis of company performance and potential opportunity/risk areas along with its benchmarking framework on publicly available company information. Publicly available information is extremely important because it provides a level playing field for all companies and allows for an objective assessment and benchmarking of company performance.
ASSET4 Announces UBS As Client and Strategic Design Partner
ASSET4 is pleased to announce UBS Global Research as a client and strategic design partner for the ASSET4 IntegratedRating System.
"The agreement, which was finalized several months ago, provides UBS research with early access to our ASSET4 IntegratedRating platform, a system that combines financial and extra-financial information with benchmarking capability. This arrangement will enable us to get their initial feedback on the viability of the system. At the same time, we are delighted to have one of the world's largest asset managers as a client and partner," said Peter Ohnemus, CEO and President of ASSET4.
After a few months of using the system, Tom Hill, Global Head of Research at UBS said: "Economic, environmental, social and governance factors have an impact on the value of the firm, but are not shown in financial accounts and often crystallize without warning. A systematic approach is needed to deal with this issue: this is exactly what the ASSET4 platform provides."
Background Information
The importance of actively managing the risks and opportunities arising from economic, environmental and social trends in an increasingly complex and interconnected world, combined with rising public expectations regarding better accountability and corporate governance, presents a whole new set of opportunities and challenges to corporate executives and the financial industry.
It is commonly recognized that 30-40% of a company's value is based on tangible financial data, whereas 70-60% of the value is based on extra-financials that are difficult to quantify. The asset management industry acknowledges the importance of including extra-financials in investment decisions and in engaging with companies, but until now there has been no systematic and transparent way of achieving this. At the same time, corporate executives and board members are under increasing legal and pub-lic pressure to provide full disclosure and transparency, as well as to defend their strategies and decision-making. Corporate liabilities and obligations no longer simply refer to short-term financial performance, but have expanded to include extra-financial aspects, such as carbon trading, asbestos litigation and workforce quality.
ASSET4 provides the information and applications to combine financial and extra-financial fundamentals for an overall picture of the long-term performance and risk profile of publicly quoted corporations. Investors can complement their use of financial information systems with ASSET4 to integrate extra-financials in their investment process in a systematic and transparent way. ASSET4 provides corporate executives and board members with a platform that gives them an integrated view of corporate performance and facilitates knowledge-based decision-making for the long-term performance of their companies.