KKS Advisors and Close Group Consulting Partner to Increase Transparency and Accelerate ESG Integration for Asset Managers
July 8th, 2020 08:30AM Eastern Daylight Time
BOSTON, Mass. --- KKS Advisors (KKS), a leading global sustainability advisory firm, today announced a strategic partnership with Close Group Consulting (CGC), a specialized ESG advisory firm based in Montreal, to launch an ESG integration assessment solution to meet the growing demand from both investors and investment managers for a set of standardized best practices to measure ESG integration across asset management firms.
The Maturity Assessment Tool (MAT) is a technology-driven solution based on standard industry frameworks and leading practices that allows a firm to assess their ESG integration practices along a spectrum of activities. The MAT aligns to a firm’s functional model and allows for results to be compared against peers and be benchmarked to the industry.
“We formed our strategic partnership to address a specific gap in the marketplace – the lack of a standardized, scalable way to assess and compare the ESG integration of asset managers,” said Anuj A. Shah, Managing Director of KKS Advisors. “With investors increasingly looking at ESG as an arbiter of an asset manager’s ability to both manage risk and identify opportunities, the MAT aids asset owners on manager due diligence and can help asset managers combat greenwashing.”
“With rising expectations from stakeholders with regards to environmental, social, and governance performance, the MAT is being introduced at a critical time for the investment community,” added Ioannis Ioannou, an Advisor to CGC and Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. “The MAT successfully addresses one of the sustainable investing industry’s biggest challenges: the lack of standard best practices for ESG integration.”
The combined KKS/CGC partnership is focused on delivering standardized data, metrics, and analytics to help firms highlight the ESG practices they do best, identify areas for improvement, and accelerate overall ESG integration by increasing transparency and comparability.
About KKS Advisors
Established in 2013, KKS Advisors is a leading, global advisory firm working with investors, foundations, corporations, and NGOs to develop bold and effective strategies that pave the way to a more sustainable society. We combine academic insights with strategy expertise and years of experience in sustainable business development to deliver solutions that foster systemic change. With offices in Boston, London and Athens, our vision is to reshape markets, creating a world where business and investment decisions are made for the long term, take environmental, social and governance factors into account, and maximize the power of capital to achieve positive impact.
About CGC
Established in 2017, Close Group Consulting Inc. advises asset managers and asset owners on the integration of ESG factors within and across their target operating models. Developed by CGC, the Sustainable Risk Assessment Framework (SRAF) is a global framework for the holistic view of a firm’s ESG practices.