The eighth annual ESG Research Australia Awards was held in Sydney, with Citi and Credit Suisse both winning awards for excellence in ESG research.
The judges considered 30 pieces of ESG research conducted during 2016 by seven broking firms: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi, CLSA, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Macquarie Bank.
The winner of the Best Piece of New ESG Research by an Individual or Team was the Credit Suisse paper Get Inside the Carbon Black Box, Look Down the Carbon Value Chain by Sandra McCullagh and Zoe Whitton.
Citi took out the remaining two awards – Best Piece of Ongoing ESG Research by an Individual Analyst or Team going to Elaine Prior and Joel Quintal for Safety Spotlight: ASX100 Companies & More and Best ESG Broking Firm.
Ms Prior, who is the outgoing managing director and ESG analyst of Citi Research, was also presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) chief executive Simon O'Connor said high-quality ESG research is critical given the trend towards responsible investment.
“This ESG research plays a critical role in informing the analysis and decision-making of some of Australia's largest institutional investors and the conversations these investors are having with Australian companies,” he said.
The awards were judged by ESG Research Australia, a collaboration of 50 superannuation funds, fund managers and asset consultants, that functions as a ‘working group’ beneath the RIAA.
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