The Indian CSR consultancy Crisil has become one of five organizations
around the world to win the Capturing Value research competition run by
the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The five share a $500,000
(£267,000) grant.
The aim of the competition is to provide
investors in emerging market equities with better research on
companies’ environmental, social and corporate governance performance
and to bring about high-quality, long-term investment in those markets.
The IFC, which is the World Bank’s private arm, paid particular
attention to contestants’ ability to aid market development and raise
environmental, social and corporate governance standards.
Rachel
Kyte, the IFC’s environment and social development director, said:
‘Through this seed funding we are hoping to break a chicken-and-egg
situation where investors will not invest in emerging markets for lack
of information, and research providers will not enter the market for
lack of demand. The object of the competition is to lead the market and
to provide tools to a mainstream investment audience.’
Subir
Gokarn, Crisil executive director and chief economist, said: ‘In our
view, increased transparency in emerging market companies in
environmental and socially responsible behaviour and governance can act
as a strong incentive for investors. They often view performance on
those dimensions as a proxy for management quality.
‘In
creating an environmental, social and corporate governance index of
Indian companies, our goal is to develop a new market instrument that
aligns investor and public interest and which can be replicated in
other emerging markets.’
The other winners were: CLSA, a
brokerage, investment banking and private equity group in the
Asia-Pacific markets; KLD, an independent investment research company
in the US; and Trucost, a British environmental research business.
