Financial analytics vendor FactSet has agreed to buy AI-driven environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data outfit Truvalue Labs. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
San Francisco-based TruValue applies AI-driven technology to over 100,000 unstructured text sources in 13 languages, including news, trade journals, and nongovernmental organisations and industry reports, to provide daily signals that identify positive and negative ESG behaviour.
The firm's coverage spans over 19,000 public and private companies and generates short-term, long-term, and momentum scores derived from hundreds of signals.
These are mapped against the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board standards and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, allowing investors to evaluate ESG risk factors and real-world actions and impacts for quantitative analysis and back-testing.
Phil Snow, CEO, FactSet, says: "ESG funds have seen record inflows this year and client demand for valuable, up-to-date ESG signals is high. Combining Truvalue Lab’s offering with FactSet’s content and technology suite will add value across our businesses."
The transaction is set to close later this year and is not expected to have a material impact on FactSet’s fiscal 2021 results.