Buzz: Transfer to editor

Focal Points:

Selected highlights:

• "Gender: We championed the push to #AccelerateAction on International Women’s Day globally and our inaugural I&B awards in EMEA and Asia Pacific, led by the Women in Experian ERG, included recognition for colleagues of many backgrounds who are accelerating action for women.
• Mental health: We actively participated in World Mental Health Day as part of our annual global Your Mind Matters Week to engage employees on wellbeing topics and raise awareness of the support we offer (refer to page 12).
• LGBTQ+: Our Pride ERGs ran activities across our regions for employees to Come Together for Pride Month (refer to page 13). We also invite our employees to learn more about our LGBTQ+ colleagues"

Parameters:

Data to: 31 March 2025
Published: Not found
Materiality Matrix: See p118 of the 2025 Annual Report for Experian's update on Double Materiality

Sustainability Performance data here 

Annual Report 2025 here

Sustainability Presentation here

Could tensions over trade and changes in U.S. policy shift the eye of climate finance away from the world’s largest economy?

"That’s one possibility suggested by recent flows within climate-themed funds. While U.S.-based companies have historically attracted the lion’s share of investment in these strategies, funds have begun to flow toward opportunities elsewhere in recent months.

Since 2018, U.S.-listed companies have made up a larger share of climate funds than they do of the overall market, averaging 67% in climate funds, compared with 58% in global markets generally (as represented by the MSCI ACWI Index), based on publicly listed funds in our coverage."

Emissions aren’t the only driver of transition risk for companies. To fully understand the headwinds and opportunities companies face, institutional investors, corporate advisors and underwriters need to consider the full picture.

The economic costs associated with the energy transition are underpinned by greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, but manifest through the availability of technology and stringency of regulation.

If there are no viable technologies to decarbonize high-emitting activities, or no low-emission alternatives to certain products and services, companies may face fewer economic consequences, at least in the short term. Against that, regulators may create bans, standards or trading schemes to price emissions and force companies to bear some of the costs of reducing them.

While the energy, utilities and materials sectors face the highest transition risks overall, according to our research, variations in underlying business models and relevant policies drive important differences at the sub-industry and company level.

The “oil field paradox” refers to the growing disconnect within industry, where some companies have created and profited from oil wells, walking away before the clean-up bill comes due, while others, who now own the wells, often lack the financial capacity – or the incentive – to clean up, transferring the risk to states, communities and ultimately taxpayers. 

How does a domestic oil industry that generates tens of billions of dollars in after-tax profits annually  leave millions of wells and billions in liabilities at risk of becoming the public’s responsibility? If the government will ultimately pick up the tab, what incentive is there for operators to accelerate plugging activity? 

For years, the majority of global investments in the electricity sector have flowed into renewable energies. At the same time, many countries want to reduce or completely eliminate coal's share in electricity generation.

However, despite the high investments, the contribution of wind power and photovoltaics to the global energy supply is still small.

It is clear that, in the foreseeable future, energy sources are needed that are less harmful to the climate than coal, but more powerful than (weather-dependent) renewables and can complement them well in terms of security of supply. 

"How can investors uncover companies that make a positive impact and also provide a compelling return profile? By following the market.

Our research shows that:

• Changing consumer preferences and demand are driving companies to provide more impactful and responsible products and services.
• Asset owners, in turn, are increasingly seeking investments that intersect upside returns and sustainability.
• Complex problems require multi-dimensional solutions that not only target companies with alignment to SDGs, but also those with strong ESG and fundamental attributes while balancing risk considerations.
• This tradeoff between risk and sustainability necessitates a sophisticated data approach and advanced portfolio engineering."

Nature – biodiversity, ecosystems, and ecosystem services – provides critical services to the functioning of the planet and the global economy, ensuring human well-being and powering economic growth and job opportunities. Yet, global economic activity and consumption patterns are driving the unprecedented loss of nature.

The Intergovernmental Science and Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)1 and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UN CBD)2 identified five human-made direct drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss (also referred to 
as “pressures”): land and sea use change, direct use and (over)exploitation of natural resources, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species. 

In response, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)3, adopted by 188 countries in 2022, calls for a whole-of-economy transformation to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 for the benefit of people and the planet. Investing in such a transformation to conserve and restore critical natural ecosystems and to shift economic sectors to sustainable practices can create long-term value, achieve global environmental objectives, and support sustainable 
livelihoods. The GBF estimates the annual financing needs to be $700 billion to meet these objectives.

The bond market has substantial potential to drive investments towards achieving the collective goals articulated in the GBF. A number of nature and biodiversity themed green bonds have already been issued where an amount equal to a portion or 100% of the proceeds was allocated to conservation and restoration, and/or activities addressing the direct drivers of nature loss. These issuances reflect a growing interest in these types of themed instruments.

Tues 22nd July 2025

16:00 UK | 17:00 CET | 11:00 NY | 08:00 SAN FRAN

"Investor confidence is built on transparency — but are current audit practice disclosures doing enough to uphold it?

Join us for a 45-minute webinar exploring how the lack of audit practice transparency poses risks to investor trust and what can be done to address it. This is your opportunity to hear from specialist voices in finance, audit, and sustainability - and to ask your own questions."

Climate Investing Across Private Markets: A Return-Focused Perspective

Global investment in the energy transition has risen from $200 billion in 2004 to $1.8 trillion in 2023. This substantial growth has brought the climate investment landscape to an important inflection point, where it now offers investors a compelling market opportunity from both a scale and risk-return perspective.

More companies can deploy climate technologies and reduce emissions without sacrificing profitability, largely due to lower costs and improved functionality across a wide range of climate-related technologies including solar, battery storage, and electric vehicles (EVs).

This expanding universe of attractive business models and more experienced general partners (GPs) are combining to present dynamic opportunities for investors across private markets strategies to participate in the climate market without foregoing investment discipline.

Expert Guide for: Investment
17 June 2025

This guide provides practical steps for successful investor collaborations, helping investors navigate challenges, align on objectives and leverage collective influence. Drawing from expert insights and real-world case studies, it outlines effective governance, engagement strategies and resource management to drive measurable corporate and policy change through coordinated investor action.

"Welcome to our latest Sustainable Investment Report, covering the year to 31 December 2024. This year, we have brought together all of our major sustainability-related disclosures into this single, comprehensive Sustainable Investment Report, aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) framework.

By adopting ISSB as our guiding framework, we are responding to growing calls for consistent, decision useful sustainability information. Our report now fully integrates the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, and for the first time, includes disclosures aligned with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).

We have also incorporated our UK Stewardship Code report, setting out how we meet the 12 principles of effective stewardship, our progress in 2024, and how we continue to embed stewardship into our investment processes."

Neuberger Berman: 2024 Stewardship & Sustainable Investing Report