Why investors use SASB Standards
Capital markets require transparent, reliable and globally comparable information to function effectively. Investors need access to this information to understand a company’s risks and opportunities and how they could affect its prospects over the short, medium or long term.
Leading global investors want to understand how companies are managing their sustainability-related risks and opportunities as part of their effort to evaluate company performance.
SASB Standards, which are uniquely tailored for providing information to investors, help address this need. Because they are industry-based, metric-driven and focused on the risks and opportunities most likely to affect cash flows, access to finance and cost of capital, SASB Standards enable the consideration of sustainability-related risks and opportunities in investment and stewardship decisions across global portfolios and asset classes. They also provide investors with comparable data that feeds the data and analytics ecosystem.
Many leading international investors support the use of the SASB Standards as a fundamental way for companies to communicate relevant sustainability information to investors in an industry-based and comparable way. These investors—across markets, asset classes and strategies—use the information provided in accordance with the SASB Standards to inform their investment decisions.
SASB Standards help investors:
- access data that is comparable and consistent about risks and opportunities that are likely to affect an entity's cash flows, access to finance and cost of capital.
- improve the quality of fundamental equity and credit analysis in both public and private markets by incorporating a broader information set beyond financial statements.
- expand understanding of risks beyond traditional risk measures like volatility.
- develop a better understanding of sector-specific risks to inform risk allocation and risk management.
