About

About the ASIAN SUSTAINABILITY RATING™

The Asian Sustainability Rating™ (ASR™) is an environment, social and governance ESG benchmarking tool developed by Responsible Research and CSR Asia. Launched in 2009, ASR™ examines the publicly available information of the leading listed companies in ten Asian countries and provides investors, companies and other stakeholders with a view of the strategic sustainability of these companies.

The ASR™ methodology is based on a set of 100 proprietary sustainability indicators, split into four ASR™ categories, General, Environment, Social and Governance, which cover disclosure on the main elements of ESG risk. We believe all public companies should be addressing each of these important factors through disclosure and realistic target setting irrespective of their sector. In theory, any company can aspire to and achieve a 100 percent rating on ASR™ within a few years of monitoring and reporting on these fundamental ESG issues.

Why report on ESG issues?

In the last few years, global economic events have brought about an increased emphasis on risk management, corporate governance, remuneration systems and the transparency of financial data. ESG data is increasingly seen as an important tool for investors who need look beyond traditional financial information to gain more understanding of investment risks and opportunities. With the assumption that thorough, transparent reporting provides a proxy for responsible management of business risk, strong ESG disclosure provides assurance in a company’s greater ability to achieve well-rounded growth over the long term while managing the ongoing challenges and opportunities in their operations.

Use of ASR™ data

The data in ASR™ can be used by responsible investors to benchmark portfolios and add a sustainability dimension to investment decision-making and engagement practices. Companies and their stakeholders can also use the tool to monitor their progress on sustainability and to review ESG management and disclosures from business partners and competitors. Individual company or peer analysis can be provided for companies wishing to know how their peers are performing on sustainability disclosure.