About ESG & This Assessment Tool

What is ESG?

ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance. These are three broad categories of non-financial factors that investors and stakeholders use to evaluate how sustainable and ethical a company or investment is.

• Environmental (E): Relates to a company's impact on the natural world. This includes its energy use, waste management, pollution, natural resource conservation, and treatment of animals. It also encompasses a company's approach to climate change risks and opportunities.
• Social (S): Concerns how a company manages relationships with its employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities where it operates. Key issues include labor practices, health and safety, diversity and inclusion, data privacy, product safety, and community relations.
• Governance (G): Deals with a company's leadership, executive pay, audits, internal controls, and shareholder rights. It reflects the systems of rules, practices, and processes by which a company is directed and controlled, including board independence, transparency, business ethics, and anti-corruption measures.

How This Tool Works:

This "ESG Profile Builder" is designed to help you structure your own thinking and assessment of an investment's ESG characteristics. It does **not** automatically fetch data or provide official ESG ratings.

1. You Research: You will need to gather information about the company or investment you want to assess from external sources (see "Where to Find Information" below).
2. You Answer: Based on your research, you answer the questions provided in the 'Environmental', 'Social', and 'Governance' tabs. Your answers reflect your perception of the company's performance on those specific ESG factors.
3. You Weight (Optional): You can assign an importance weight (Low, Medium, High) to each of the E, S, and G categories based on what matters most to you as an investor.
4. The Tool Calculates: Based on your answers and optional weights, the tool calculates a simplified score for each ESG category and an overall ESG Profile Score. This score is a reflection of *your assessment*.
5. Review Profile: The "ESG Profile Summary" tab shows these scores and offers some very general observations based on your inputs.

Where to Find ESG Information for Your Assessment:

To answer the questions in this tool, you may need to consult various sources, such as:

• Company's Official Website: Look for sections on "Sustainability," "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)," "Investor Relations," or "ESG."
• Annual Reports & Sustainability Reports: Companies increasingly publish detailed reports on their ESG performance. In India, for example, top listed companies provide Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR).
• Reputable Financial News Outlets: Articles and analyses often cover companies' ESG initiatives, controversies, or performance.
• ESG Rating Agencies (Summaries): While full reports are often paid, summaries or high-level scores from agencies like MSCI, Sustainalytics, Refinitiv, or local equivalents might sometimes be found through financial platforms or news.
• NGOs & Watchdog Reports: Reports from non-governmental organizations can highlight specific ESG issues related to companies or industries.

Important Consideration: ESG data and reporting are still evolving. The availability and quality of information can vary significantly between companies, industries, and regions. This tool aims to provide a structured way to organize *your findings*.