Nordic corporate bank SEB has launched a new environmental, social and governance (ESG) methodology that quantifies how ESG factors affect the financial performance of companies

SEB Research’s ESG Assessment Methodology (SEAM) aims to provide a value-centric approach to ESG, in response to client demand to understand how sustainability factors affect the investment conditions for the companies which SEB analyses.

The analyses are performed individually at company level. In addition to valuation and responsibility analyses, the framework also includes an assessment of the company’s performance, with respect to the climate impact thresholds that are laid out by the EU.

Results are entirely integrated in SEB’s equity analyses, accessible for all clients that purchase Equity Research’s analysis service.

At present, SEAM analyses have been conducted and published for over 50 companies covered by SEB’s Equity Research team, with an expectation of completing analyses on half of the remaining companies covered by year end, and full completion of the task before midsummer 2021.

Martin Nilsson, head of SEB Equities, said: “From what we can judge, SEAM is a considerably more ambitious, systematic and forward-looking analysis than what has been offered in the market to date. We have received an overwhelmingly positive response from our clients, who appreciate the approach’s stringency and objectivity, and that it provides new insights to inform the challenging task of ESG integration into the investment decision-making process.”