For 20 years, the CSA has been a leading methodology for assessing the ESG performance of companies. The results are today used in many ways, the Sustainability Yearbook and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) being the most visible.

It is this use of the CSA results by S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) for well-established indices such as the DJSI and others, that was our main reason for re-introducing the SAM brand.

Now operating under SAM are two specialist business areas:

ESG Ratings, which is responsible for the CSA, from the methodology behind the assessment, to the annual data collection, through to the evaluation and scoring of individual companies, and also contributing the data to S&P DJI for their indices.

ESG Benchmarking (formerly known as Sustainability Services), which provides to companies, experts and practitioners a range of unique services to evaluate companies’ sustainability performance, based on CSA results and by comparing it to best practice.

This move sets apart these specialist areas as the interface to companies and will enhance the role of the CSA as an essential tool for understanding and improving corporate sustainability performance.

Having these areas of business operating under the SAM brand increases their prominence reflecting the growing interest from the market in these offerings. It also allows for broader use of the CSA results by S&P DJI.

In addition, this step emphasizes the objectivity of the CSA process, making a clear distinction and separation from the RobecoSAM asset management business.