Global exchange and clearing house operator Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced today an expansion of its ESG reference data platform to include key U.S. indices and benchmarks. ICE stated that its research team continues to update, enhance and expand this service and plans to launch coverage for additional companies and geographies later this year.

Lynn Martin, President of Fixed Income and Data Services at ICE, said:

“As ESG continues to gain momentum among investors and other market participants, it’s critical that they have access to accurate and timely data. ICE uses its expertise and technology to provide granular, actionable and unbiased signals and insights that can help our customers make informed decisions about how they allocate their capital and manage emerging risks.”

ICE’s ESG Reference Data offers detailed attributes and indicators, such as greenhouse gas emissions, board diversity metrics and nearly 400 other key metrics sourced from company and publicly available third-party sources.  The data set was developed in collaboration with Bank of America Global Research who are using the ESG data for building out its proprietary ESGMeter, which provides a score of a company’s likelihood of experiencing stronger financial stability over the next three years, based on quantitative and fundamental inputs.

Savita Subramanian, Head of ESG Research and U.S. Equity & Quantitative Strategy at BofA Global Research, said:

“Investors and market participants are continuing to see ESG data as a critical tool to better understand risks and opportunities in their investment analysis. Over the next 12 to 18 months, we expect that more companies will begin disclosing greenhouse gas emissions data, diversity data and other attributes in response to growing investor demand for more transparency. This will ultimately help market participants make better decisions about where to allocate their capital.”

With the expansion of U.S. indices and benchmarks in its coverage, ICE shared some of the findings from the platform across environmental, social and governance factors. For example, ICE data shows that 48% of U.S. large-cap companies have reported their scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions, 76% of companies that are part of the ICE U.S. 1000 Index provide wellness programs to their employees, and 62% of ICE U.S. 1000 index companies have boards of directors comprising at least 25% female membership.