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Trucost in Partnership with CLSA win IFC tender to provide financial research on environmental issues in emerging market economies.
London
, 28th September 2006:
Trucost in partnership with CLSA is delighted to be awarded funds from the IFC to develop and expand the availability of investment research of environmental issues on single stocks or investment portfolios of publicly listed emerging market companies.
The tender win was announced last night at the ‘Who Cares Wins’ event in Zurich organised by the Government of Switzerland, the Global Compact and IFC.
To date, there has been no comprehensive, factual analysis on the environmental impacts of emerging market companies. Trucost will use its expertise of measuring environmental impacts and for the first time create a database on the environmental consequences of production of emerging economy companies. Trucost/CLSA will use this information to create reports for the IFC on the 578 companies contained in the MSCI Asia (ex-Japan) index and for a representative selection of pan-Asian equity funds. The database and reports will factor environmental damage costs into fundamental analysis of emerging economy companies therefore leading to better informed investment decision-making.
“Trucost in partnership with CLSA is delighted to be working with the IFC on this project to provide research on the financial and risk impacts of environmental issues in emerging market companies. It is hugely important that the environmental costs associated with growth in emerging economies are realised and the provision of good quality quantitative data means this can be achieved. Unless the environmental impacts of companies in emerging markets are quantified and reduced in a way that is consistent with growth, then efforts to promote sustainable growth in developed economies will be undermined. Trucost is proud to be working with the IFC, and this initiative will have the effect of pump-priming the provision of investment relevant, environmental research on emerging market companies.” states Simon Thomas, Chief Executive, Trucost
As a leading Asian brokerage house, CLSA encourages investors to take a long term stake in the markets in which they invest. Through its annual Forums and innovative research on Asian markets, CLSA urges investors to take the time to learn about the social, political and economic landscape of these countries and to use their clout to affect long term positive change.
“For some time now, we have been highlighting environmental issues in a number of our research products including our Asian Clean and Green Company Audit and a report on Hong Kong’s air quality” said Edmund Bradley, CLSA Group Head of Research. “This is relatively un-chartered territory for the Asian investor community and we’re glad to be part of a solution that looks at the problem from an Asian perspective.”
For more information please contact Ashleigh Lezard on +44 20 7321 3731, ashleigh.lezard@trucost.com , Grace Hung, +852 2600 8318, grace.hung@clsa.com
About Trucost ( www.trucost.com)
Trucost Plc is an environmental research business which helps companies and investors understand the environmental impacts of business activities in financial terms. Trucost offers expert advice and research to major corporations, both public and private, institutional investors and to Government departments and associated agencies. Trucost wrote the environmental reporting guidelines for UK business with the UK government, released in January 2006.
Over the past six years Trucost has built up a database of the environmental impacts and disclosures of over 3000 major companies worldwide. Trucost’s database of climate change disclosures is the world’s largest. Trucost has developed unparalleled experience and expertise in the area of environmental performance, analysis and reporting, working with leading multinational companies in a range of business sectors including Avis, Bloomsbury, Christian Salvesen, Prudential, LogicaCMG, Legal & General and Land Securities Plc.
Institutional investors use Trucost’s research to support due diligence and active engagement, incorporating environmental performance measurement into their investment decisions. Clients include Hermes, Standard Life, Henderson Global Investors, Fortis Investments and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. Institutional investors also use the information to assess the environmental footprint of their portfolios, and therefore better understanding their environmental risk.
About CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets
CLSA is a leading brokerage, investment banking and private equity group in the Asia-Pacific Markets. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Hong Kong, CLSA’s major shareholder is
CLSA has over 900 dedicated professionals spread across all Asian and international financial centres. Recognised as one of the top research, sales and execution houses in
CLSA is consistently ranked in major industry polls. CLSA ranked No.3 overall in Institutional Investor’s All-
Additional information is available at www.clsa.com. For further information, please contact:
Grace Hung, Head of Communications
CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets
Tel: (852) 2600 8318
Fax: (852) 2530 0827
Email: grace.hung@clsa.com