Mandatory sustainability: it can’t be done now business without having embraced the criteria of sustainability, which means respect for the environment, promotion of inclusion and combating any discrimination with respect to diversity, transparency in company management processes. L’acronym Esg it is what distinguishes every company that wants to “do its homework well” and present itself to consumers and all stakeholders in the most correct way. Analyzing the acronym, all the activities of a company in the field can be referred to the “E”. environmental; the “S” indicates the social aspect and the criteria linked to it examine the impact of an organization in the context of the community in which it operates; finally, the “G” for Governance concerns the issues of corporate management, which must be inspired by good practices and ethical principles. But then an ESG evaluation is needed. Both to make the sustainability objective credible and to also guide one’s own investments and beyond. Investing in the companies most sensitive to ESG issues is worthwhile: there is much research that confirms this.
But then how do you choose the ESG companies to direct your preferences and investments towards? This is helped by a ranking released in recent days which has drawn up the top 10 of the ESG Identity Corporate Index 2024. Confirmations and news compared to last year’s ranking.
The ranking
Leading the ranking are Hera, which gains a position compared to last year, followed by Eni (first in 2023) and Poste Italiane (always in third place last edition), with Erg fourth and Snam in fifth place. At the top of the unlisted companies are Bnl Bnp Paribas, Cdp and Astm, ahead of Autostrade per l’Italia and Alperia. While Fiera Milano establishes itself as the first listed company outside the top 100, ahead of Sit Spa, Illimity Bank, Safilo Group and Aquafil. Many types of different investment strategies are brought together under the “ESG” investment umbrella. Initially, investments were based on the exclusion or “selection” of companies based on ethical criteria. There was a tendency to exclude controversial sectors such as, for example, weapons and gambling. However, these funds generally had higher risk and lower returns, meaning they struggled to gain serious traction. Today there are more advanced approaches that seek to reward the most virtuous companies in many respects, also thanks to the dissemination of increasingly advanced data and ratings. The result is the possibility of investing with a less restrictive and more sophisticated approach.
L’ESG Identity Corporate Index (ESG.ICI, formerly Integrated Governance Index), an ET.Group project now in its ninth edition, is the only quantitative analysis model of the degree of integration of ESG factors in corporate strategies. Increasingly, thanks to the awareness of participating companies, the index is emerging as an indicator of the company’s ESG Identity. The starting sample involves, in addition to the top 100 listed companies, also the companies that have drawn up the DNF (Consob basket) and the top 50 Italian unlisted companies.
The questionnaire was submitted, eliminating overlaps, to a total of approximately 300 companies. Overall, 420 managers took part in the questionnaire, in line with last year. The index currently covers 53% of the Ftse Mib companies and 45% of the top 100 Italian listed companies.
