Trucost has provided carbon intensity analysis of our ESG strategies since 2014, showing these strategies to be significantly less carbon intensive than that of the benchmark. In 2016, we returned to Trucost to evaluate the water intensity of our ESG integrated equity strategies. We believed then and now that water scarcity and resilience are factors less understood by investors and in some ways more complex than carbon analysis given water’s more “local” versus “global” profile. Not only did the Trucost analysis show that our ESG portfolio holdings were collectively less water intensive than the benchmark, but it highlighted the specific sectors, industries and holdings that made the biggest differences, both positive and negative, to the results. We continue to utilize Trucost to update carbon and water metrics.
We use Trucost information in three ways. First, we incorporate Trucost’s water and carbon data directly into our quantitative modeling process. Second, we use the granular information to enhance our fundamental analysis on the narrower set of prospective holdings. Lastly, we use Trucost work in combination with our own research to identify companies to engage with from an advocacy standpoint, on issues of disclosure, reporting and metrics.