Refinitiv Updates ESG Scoring Methodology to Address Bias

By Dieter Holger

Refinitiv said late Wednesday that it had updated its environmental, social and governance scoring methodology to address metrics relevant to industries and company size.

The financial data provider, which is owned by Blackstone Group Inc. and Thomson Reuters Corp., said it would now assign a score of zero to companies that don't report on metrics key to their sector and that certain figures will matter more or less to certain industries.

To address size bias, it said it would put more weight on small companies than large companies since bigger firms tend to have more news reported.

"Refinitiv is not opining about what 'good' looks like--we let the data determine this--but our criteria and data model have been enhanced to accommodate an objective approach to materiality and transparency stimulation," said Leon Saunders Calvert, head of sustainable finance at Refinitiv.

Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@wsj.com; @dieterholger

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 16, 2020 09:00 ET (13:00 GMT)

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