It has been nearly seven years since Sustinvest was established by CEO and founder Ryu Young-jae.

Ryu now faces even bigger task of providing analytical information on the environmental, social and governance performance of listed companies as domestic pension funds seek to expand socially responsible investing.

As its biggest client, the National Pension Service, which has become a “whale in a small pond,” seeks to increase stock investment for higher returns, Sustinvest will also need to boost its human resources and ESG capability through partnership, and merger and acquisition.

The company has been looking into ways to further develop its relationship with Sustainalytics, one of the world’s two biggest ESG information service providers alongside Morgan Stanley Capital International.

“We are strategically contemplating the matter, and being a part of Sustainalytics and becoming its regional player,” said Ryu.

It could rename the company to “Sustinvest Korea” should both sides realize the deal, he added. Sustinvest, which Ryu calls a financial venture firm, has a strategic alliance with Sustainalytics.

Sustinvest, Korea’s biggest ESG company, provides its services to the NPS for the investment management of SRI stocks worth 2.8 trillion won. The fund allocates some 5 trillion won of its assets for SRI annually, while Amsterdam-based Sustainalytics has an ESG performance database for 4,000 companies worldwide.

M&As have been sweeping the ESG sector amid an increasing awareness of socially responsible investment, and Korean pension funds are expected to raise their voice through voting rights and shareholder engagements as a means to rein in conglomerates.

MSCI acquired RiskMetrics, KLD and Innovest, while Sustainalytics became the global ESG provider through the M&A of seven companies, Ryu noted.

ESG has become one of the key sources evaluating shares of companies as the market is putting importance on achieving a low carbon footprint, mutual growth with suppliers and sound corporate governance.

Ryu said he expected ESG would be a key investment indicator alongside price-book ratio and price-earnings ratio, and the NPS was likely to increase its SRI gradually on a par with global pension funds that allocated an average of 20 percent of their assets to SRI shares.

By Park Hyong-ki
(hkp@heraldcorp.com)


<관련 한글 기사>

서스틴베스트, 글로벌 ESG사와 M&A

국내 기업의 환경, 사회 그리고 지배구조 (ESG)에 대한 분석 및 리서치 회사인 서스틴베스트는 글로벌 ESG리서치사 서스테널리틱스와 M&A를 검토 중이라고 대표이사 류영재가 말했다.

“현재 서스틴베스트를 서스테널리틱스에 속할지 전략적으로 고민 중이다”라고 류사장님은 말했다.

그리고 향후 자사의 기업명을 “서스틴베스트 코리아”로 바꿔서 서스테널리틱스의 "한국 플레이어" 될지에 대해서도 고민 중이라고 덧붙였다.

서스틴베스트는 국내 최대 ESG 분석 리서치사이며 국민연금의 2조8,000억 규모인 사회책임투자(SRI) 주식자산에 대해 자문을 하고 있다. 네덜란드에 본사를 두고 있는 서스테널리틱스는 서스틴베스트의 전략적 파트너이자 전세계 4,000개 이상의 기업 ESG 정보 데이터베이스를 두고 있다.

서스테널리틱스는 모간스탠리캐피탈인터내셔널(MSCI)과 ESG정보업계에서 “양대 산맥”을 형성하고 있다. (코리아 헤럴드 박형기 기자)