J.P. Morgan announced today the launch of ESG Discovery, a new digital platform aimed at providing investors with a central source for ESG views from the firm’s sector and ESG analysts, and enabling assessments of current and forward-looking company and sector material ESG risks, opportunities and impacts.

According to J.P. Morgan, the new platform was developed in response to growing client demand for “a more structured and fundamental ESG view.” Released with a modular design, ESG Discovery is designed to meet the ESG data needs of a broad set of J.P. Morgan’s investor clients, from ESG integration to impact investors, providing both thematic deep-dives as well as stock-specific views.

The platform also incorporates a “double materiality” framework, allowing investors and analysts to look into current ESG-related financial risks and opportunities, as well as informing forward-looking materiality by providing insight into the negative and positive impacts of companies on stakeholders across the value chain.

Sophie Warrick, Head of EMEA Equity Research & Co-Head of Global ESG Research, J.P. Morgan, said:

“ESG Discovery will provide J.P. Morgan’s sector analysts with the unique ability to assess ESG issues according to a clients’ own ESG priorities, providing in-depth, fundamental and forward-looking opinions on ESG performance, which are increasingly important to our clients.”

The platform consists of two main components, including “Sector and Cross sector tabs,” enabling mapping of double materiality in order to assess the importance of current and future ESG issues at the sector level, and; “Company and Thematic screening tabs,” allowing analysis at the company level with centralized revenue estimates, company-specific materiality scores and fundamental views on companies’ performance on their most material ESG themes.

Key functionalities of the platform include accessing the materiality scores of J.P. Morgan’s 35 ESG themes for specific companies and assessing, comparing and screening companies’ management of the most material themes, viewing the materiality of the ESG themes for specific sectors, and comparing the materiality of each across sectors.  

In addition to providing J.P. Morgan’s assessment of a company’s management of ESG themes, the platform informs investors’ engagement efforts with a list of company-specific engagement questions.

ESG Discovery’s double materiality framework is powered by ESG data and software analytics provider Datamaran. Datamaran worked with J.P. Morgan to create materiality assessment models, which utilize data from corporate disclosure, regulatory, and media sources to anticipate emerging topics positioned to have a financial impact on markets.

Datamaran CEO Marjella Lecourt-Alma, said:

“We’re thrilled that J.P. Morgan is using this unique approach to accelerate strategic business opportunities on ESG through ESG Discovery. Looking at material risks from both a financial and wider sustainability perspective is becoming standard practice for investors and companies, and they both need a credible, robust, and tech-enabled process to achieve that.”