Refinitiv announced today that it is introducing a new ESG-themed information product, with the launch of Sustainable Finance League Tables in the company’s Deals Intelligence solution service.

Refinitiv’s new service will measure new capital raising driving sustainable outcomes and will rank the investment banks underwriting such activity. Deals Intelligence Sustainable Finance League Tables will be available on the Refinitiv Workspace and Eikon information services.

The new service will apply criteria across both use of proceeds and company operations to determine the total new capital being raised on financial markets, which is driving the sustainable economy. 

Leon Saunders Calvert, Head of Sustainable Finance, Lipper and I&A Insights, Refinitiv, said:

“Whilst the market continues to mature in its definitions of sustainable finance products and instruments, and Refinitiv will continue to influence and reflect this evolution in our criteria, with this release we have created a holistic view of new capital being issued to markets, which aggregates sustainable activity across asset classes, regions and industry verticals, and identifies the issuers, underwriters and advisors most heavily contributing to this financing. Extensive interaction with market participants and industry bodies informs the criteria we have created and starts to help answer the questions related to how much progress is being made against the capital requirements needed to finance a sustainable future.”

According to Refinitiv, the new service will capture sustainability-related deals including green bonds, social bonds and sustainability-linked bonds or loans, the use of sustainable proceeds and companies operating in sustainable industries to provide a complete view of total capital raising in support of sustainable outcomes.

The company noted the significant demand for a service tracking these measures, driven by an active market for sustainable finance products, including:

• Nearly US$200 billion of sustainable bonds brought to market during the first half of 2020
• Social bond issuance accounted for one-quarter of issuance as Covid-19 relief and recovery efforts accelerate
• US$79 billion in sustainable loans closed during the half, with US$4 billion of global equity capital markets
• M&A involving sustainable companies reached US$10.6 billion, on par with first half 2019 levels

Refinitiv stated the new product will also enable the investment banks to more easily incorporate ESG factors to track and measure activity, and benchmark themselves versus peers on sustainable financing. Features of the new service aimed at investment banks include:

• A transparent and objective view of underwriting and advisory activity within the growing sustainable finance categories
• Expanding on Refinitiv’s industry-leading league table franchise to define the universe of sustainable activities across M&A and capital raising and measure leadership with standard market share metrics