The latest addition to Morningstar’s lineup of global sustainability indexes provides investors with broad exposure to companies on the leading edge of best practices in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, announces the launch of the Morningstar Developed Markets LGBTQ+ Leaders Index. The new index is designed to deliver exposure to 100 large- and mid-cap companies demonstrating strong LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and practices from a diverse range of regions and sectors. It adds to Morningstar’s growing suite of socially focused indexes which currently includes the Morningstar Minority Empowerment Index, Gender Diversity Index and Women’s Empowerment Index.
The innovative index methodology is designed by Morningstar Indexes, the fastest growing global index provider for the last three years according to Burton-Taylor International Consulting. The LGBTQ+ Leaders Index is underpinned by data from Morningstar Sustainalytics and ExecuPride, a socially focused enterprise that harnesses data science to monitor company advancements in LGBTQ+ inclusion. Companies are first screened for controversial product involvement, UN Global Compact compliance, and severe ESG controversies using Morningstar Sustainalytics leading ESG data and research and are then ranked by ExecuPride score and size. The 100 companies with the highest ExecuPride scores from across regions and sectors are selected for membership.
Ron Bundy – President, Morningstar Indexes & Morningstar Sustainalytics
“We are thrilled to add this new capability to our growing suite of indexes to empower investors while expanding our global sustainability index offering. Our new index fulfills a market need by enabling investors to tap into global companies with leading LGBTQ+ policies to pursue their investment objectives, whether for values alignment, or to pursue investment opportunity, or a combination.”
Companies near the top of the ExecuPride Assessment Scale, which also represent the top holdings within the index, have demonstrated direct evidence of DEI policies, initiatives and support structures as well as a prominence of LGBTQ+ representation and advocacy at the leadership level. Top representative holdings for the index currently include Eli Lilly & Co., JP Morgan Chase, Alphabet, Apple and Johnson & Johnson among others.
Rob Edwards – Global Director of ESG Product Management, Morningstar Indexes
“The index industry has made great strides in recent years to develop products that fall under the ‘S’ in ESG. Yet, while there are a number of broad socially focused indexes available in the market today, few options focus on sexual orientation or gender identity. In developing the Morningstar Developed Markets LGBTQ+ Leaders Index, our objective was to bring greater transparency to LGBTQ+ practices and policies in the workplace and how companies are incorporating these approaches into their strategy. We opted to do this in a way that stresses an objective, data-based approach.”
In developing this new index, Morningstar Indexes also consulted with a range of organizations and experts on LGBTQ+ policies and issues, including LGBT Great and myGwork, as well as with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) leads at Morningstar.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services that serve a wide range of market participants, including individual and institutional investors in public and private capital markets, financial advisors and wealth managers, asset managers, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and issuers of fixed-income securities. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $294 billion in AUMA as of March 31, 2024. The Company operates through wholly- or majority-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MorningstarInc.
About Morningstar Indexes and Morningstar Sustainalytics
Morningstar Indexes and Morningstar Sustainalytics have recently formed a strategic alignment to provide a more holistic and robust ESG offering to Morningstar clients. This growing collaboration includes ESG-related products, insights and research.
As the fastest-growing global index provider for the last three years according to Burton-Taylor International Consulting, Morningstar Indexes was built to keep up with the evolving needs of investors—and to be a leading-edge advocate for them. Morningstar’s rich heritage as a transparent, investor-focused leader in data and research uniquely equips Morningstar Indexes to support individuals, institutions, wealth managers and advisors in navigating investment opportunities across all major asset classes, styles, and strategies. From assessing risk and return with traditional benchmarks to helping investors effectively incorporate ESG objectives into their investment process, our range of index solutions spans an investment landscape as diverse as investors themselves. We help investors answer today’s increasingly complex questions so that they can more easily reach tomorrow’s goals. Please visit indexes.morningstar.com for more information.
Morningstar Sustainalytics is a leading ESG data, research, and ratings firm that supports investors around the world with the development and implementation of responsible investment strategies. For more than 30 years, the firm has been at the forefront of developing high-quality, innovative solutions to meet the evolving needs of global investors. Today, Morningstar Sustainalytics works with hundreds of the world’s leading asset managers and pension funds who incorporate ESG information and assessments into their investment processes. The firm also works with hundreds of companies and their financial intermediaries to help them consider material sustainability factors in policies, practices, and capital projects. Morningstar Sustainalytics has analysts around the world with varied multidisciplinary expertise across more than 40 industry groups. For more information, visit www.sustainalytics.com.
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