Supporting a sovereign ESG decision

A long-short hedge fund needed help integrating ESG factors into the management of its sovereign debt portfolio. We applied a full-spectrum data and research solution via our Institutional Investor Service.

• Challenge

  The ESG team in a fixed-income, long-short hedge fund wanted to fully integrate ESG in their sovereign products. However, they lacked global data and research, as well as investment team buy-in.

• Solution

  Through our Institutional Investor Service, the fund uses a custom configuration of our time series data across 150 ESG+P risk indices to regularly generate ESG+P trend intelligence for both long and short positions. Forward-looking research updates and on-demand access to expert analysts also guide both trading decisions and on-the-ground fact-finding and engagement.

• Outcome

  When it comes to its sovereign portfolio, the fund now has the data and insights it needs to make informed decisions and comply with client mandates. Greater understanding of which sovereign ESG risks are material has helped refine the integration of these issues into the overall investment process. Internal buy-in for the ESG team has also increased, helped by the holistic integration of political risk intelligence – also a key issue of concern for the portfolio managers.