Neudata announced that it has launched Neudata Scout ESG — a new product within its Neudata Scout line of business that helps global organisations search, source, manage and compare new sources of alternative data aligned to environmental, social and governance factors.

The product builds on the strong demand for ESG data that Neudata has observed from its current client base, including the world’s largest hedge funds, private equity firms, venture capitalists, consultancies and corporations.

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Increasingly, these firms are using alternative data sources to comply with government regulations, fill in disclosure gaps and build their own ESG evaluation models, according to Neudata’s head of ESG research, Julia Asri Meigh. Since many companies are not legally required to make ESG disclosures, the firms that analyse them must therefore turn to alternative data sources to create a comprehensive picture of those companies’ sustainability activities.

For example, asset managers that have to comply with reporting requirements under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) can use Neudata Scout ESG to find datasets to help them do so.

“Any firm in the EU with an ESG-labelled investment product needs to disclose certain metrics across the EU Taxonomy, some of which can prove difficult to track down without specialised data scouting tools like Neudata Scout ESG,” Meigh explained. “These tools can help firms report in line with various ESG frameworks like biodiversity and human capital metrics.”

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Firms can also use the platform to build their own ESG evaluation models. Neudata Scout ESG lists 400+ ESG-relevant datasets, which are classified according to the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and Neudata’s own taxonomy of more granular ESG subcategories.

“Neudata’s taxonomy aims to capture all the granular sustainability themes found across the alphabet soup of ESG standards. This tool makes it easier to search for specific datasets no matter what ESG framework users align with,” Meigh said.