ESG Reports for banks and investment companies
As we have discussed in our previous articles: What is an ESG report and Maximising your ESG report impact, we focus on a particular sector – banks and investment companies to detail some of the specific requirements that these sectors may need to deal with.
ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) reports are an important stakeholder communication tool for banks, private equity firms, investment companies and groups that may have a complex portfolio of companies. These groups of companies might be diverse in their offerings or part of a particular sector; for instance, working in the green-energy sector.
To add to this potential complexity, companies in the group may be customer-focused (B2C) or business-focused (B2B) so the reporting could potentially be very diverse.
The group will need to communicate its top-level aspirations, strategies and goals, but may also have to drill-down to a company level, as each company may have different strategies in place.
For instance, a ‘bricks and mortar’ company will have broader remit than a purely digital company. This is very important when you consider the goals of a highstreet bank versus the online banking niche market providers.
To simplify, the group reporting may provide an overarching strategy, but at a company level, the reporting may need to be more focused.
Organisations who are part of a group may in fact, have their own independent ESG reports; so how best are these diverse reports brought together?
Visual signposting and clear graphic communication is key. By using colour and visual indicators (for instance: icons), each reporting topic can be organised to improve clarity. Without that clarity, the stakeholders or potential investors will not fully understand the depth and breadth of the ESG strategy.
The lead brand (often the weakest) will be the group, investment or the holding company itself. It is often the case that the group, or investment company has little presence in the market other than a stakeholder website or portal.
The investment company that owns the likes of Pret a Manger, Bally and Krispy Kreme is JAB Holding Company. Ever heard of them?
Despite poor brand recognition, the stakeholders and investors still deserve well designed, clearly communicated media. In many ways, quality comms are more important for these companies.
Structure is key. Your ESG Report design agency should advise you on how best to segment and bring ESG strategies together to create a combination of a coherent responses, as well as a focused set of strategies and well defined goals for each company in the group and of course, the group itself.
An ESG report is an opportunity, not a chore. It is a powerful communication tool, as well as a document that sets out an aspirational, strategy and reporting level and stakeholders are more and more demanding when it comes to ESG reporting.
We help organisations define the structure in their ESG reports, draw out the important data and help to define benchmark reporting, no matter the sector.