ESG Viewpoint:
MUFG Investor Services
# RepRisk interviews Cliodhna Murphy, Executive Director for Product Development at MUFG Investor Services
# September 2021
1. RepRisk: Please provide some insight into your specific role at MUFG Investor Services (MUFG) and the work that you and your team do to support your clients.
Cliodhna Murphy: I am part of the product development team. We focus on creating new products and services for our clients who are hedge funds, private equity, real asset, and fund of fund managers. We engage with our clients to understand the challenges and opportunities they face and then determine how we can evolve our product set to best support them. We also try to identify new areas, including regulations, that might impact them, and develop solutions to meet their needs.
2. RR: You recently launched ESG transparency reporting, featuring RepRisk data, as part of your mission to increase transparency in the industry. Why is transparency on ESG issues and risks key to financial decision-making, and what qualities and features were you looking for when selecting data providers to best enable that transparency?
CM: Although ESG has gained traction over the last two years, even this past summer we have seen the stark realization of climate risks. It is essential for investment managers to adequately assess environmental risks to their portfolio as well as factor in key social and governance criteria given their correlation to better performance.
When selecting data, we considered coverage of companies, depth of data collected, climate risk factors, use of technology to gather data, and rating methodology. Key differentiators with RepRisk were their use of AI and machine learning, outstanding company coverage, and outside-in approach to validate what companies are doing.
3. RR: Do you see ESG assessment methods that leverage corporate dialogue and engagement becoming more widespread? How can high quality ESG data optimize the engagement process?