DATA PROFILING
Helping Shawbrook Bank to benchmark their ESG progress against their peers
The Challenge
Shawbrook Bank wanted to improve their ESG position against their competitors, based on real data.
They were unsure about where to start with ESG measurement and integrating ESG philosophy into their culture and business processes.
The Ask
We were asked to come up with an ESG scoring model that could use existing public data from the client's peers against their own internal reporting data.
This scoring model would be used to place the client against their peers in environmental, social, and governance groups, as well as an overall rating.
Our ESG expertise was recognised in identifying which ESG frameworks could support this scoring model. We were also tasked with ensuring that their ESG philosophy was aligned to their purpose.
The Approach
We used an example of best-in-class ESG stewardship in a Tier 1 financial services firm as a demonstration of what is possible. This case study covered how ESG impacted the firm across:
- Partnerships
- Products & services
- Diversity & inclusion
- Climate change
- Governance & ESG frameworks
We created an ESG scoring model that used existing ESG frameworks, such as SASB and UN SDGs. This scoring model included 32 questions across E, S and G categories. We researched public company reports to find data and references to key ESG themes. Thresholds were used to classify metrics and create a weighted score per category.
We emphasised the importance of authenticity in embedding ESG into a firm’s culture. This was demonstrated through analysis of peer behaviour and assessing ESG integration into the peers’ purpose. A set of recommendations were made to increase the maturity of ESG within the client, including specific frameworks and metrics to start tracking.
The Results
The board members at the client were able to see where they stood versus their competitors, in more detail than ever before. This detail enabled a set of specific next steps to be laid out around establishing the ESG philosophy and policy of the client, which ESG areas to prioritise, changes to the risk appetite statement to incorporate ESG risks, and making a commitment to becoming net-zero.
