IR & ESG
SUPPLIERS
March 2021
Increasing money inflows into sustainability investments
Investors’ attention towards Environmental, Social and Governance issues has constantly grown over the last decade. Based on the belief that those factors can have a significant impact on long-term performance of companies, there has been an increasing flow of funds into financial instruments dedicated to specific ESG issues. At the same time, the adoption of sustainability criteria in core benchmarks and passive investment instruments, both open funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), has become more widespread.
In Europe in particular, where sustainable investing has been developing for quite some time, the recent economic policy guidelines of the Next Generation EU program have also focused on development supported by ‘green’ investments, through the means provided by the ‘Green Deal’. The Covid-19 crisis itself has made even more evident the importance for companies to have sustainable business models that balance the interests of various stakeholders.
ESG indices and ratings are an essential benchmark for investors
In a context in which it is vital for listed companies to prove the results of their concrete commitment on sustainability issues, there is still a lack of clarity and uniformity on standards to be used to present sustainability metrics.
From this point of view, ESG indices and ratings are a good response to investors’ demand for consistent, comparable and transparent data when assessing the performance of individual companies.
Italgas is ideally positioned, considering the high ESG ratings and the inclusion in key indices that the Company enjoys
For a listed company like Italgas, to be included in the most important sustainability indices offers the advantage of attracting, in its shareholder base, investors who follow ‘ESG index-linked’ strategies that replicate certain benchmarks built by selecting companies that meet sustainability criteria.
Leveraging on good ESG performance, Italgas can also target another type of asset manager, i.e., investors who follow an active approach and take investment decision placing a positive value on the fact that the Company has been included in relevant sustainability indices and can count on high ESG ratings from agencies.
Through strict assessment processes, over time Italgas succeeded in being included into important ESG indices and ratings, whose overall picture is expressed in the table below:
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