Independent investment research firm Morningstar announced today the launch of the Morningstar ESG Commitment Level, and the Morningstar ESG Risk Rating Assessment, designed to provide ESG assessments of asset managers and companies, respectively.

The launch of the new products follows the acquisition last year of ESG ratings and research provider Sustainalytics, and the subsequent announcement that it has started the process of formally integrating ESG factors into its analysis of stocks, funds, and asset managers, including the integration of Sustainalytics research into Morningstar’s equity research methodology.

Morningstar ESG Commitment Level provides assessments for nearly 900 funds and more than 70 asset managers of the extent to they are incorporating ESG factors into their investment processes. The tool follows a four-point scale of Low, Basic, Advanced, and Leader, distilling the ESG resources, policies, and expertise at an asset management firm or within managed investment strategy into a simple assessment. The assessments are currently available for Morningstar Direct, Morningstar Office, and Premium members of Morningstar.com, and will be available later this month in Morningstar Advisor Workstation and Morningstar Analyst Research Center.

Morningstar ESG Risk Rating Assessment aims to enable investors to easily compare and contextualize the overall ESG risk for 13,000 companies across a range of industries. According to Morningstar, the assessment is a visual expression of Sustainalytics’ ESG Risk Ratings, which measure a company’s exposure to industry-specific material ESG risks and how well a company manages those risks. The new tool is currently available in Morningstar Direct, Morningstar Office, Morningstar Advisor Workstation, and for Premium members of Morningstar.com, and will be added to Morningstar’s equity data feeds later this month.

Michael Jantzi, Chief Executive Officer for Sustainalytics, said:

“Investors of all types want help curating sustainable investment choices and understanding material ESG risks. By continuing to integrate ESG fund- and security-level data and insights across Morningstar platforms, we are illuminating risks and opportunities that come from multifaceted ESG issues and varied approaches to help investors make informed decisions.”