Investors, whether in private markets or public investments, increasingly understand that ESG considerations do not only play a vital role in creating a sustainable and responsible investment portfolio, but are also a key component of sound investment decision-making and of securing LP buy-in.
Simplifying ESG and impact investing with AI: Introducing Briink’s "ESG Questionnaire Assistant"
One key challenge for investors is assessing the ESG performance of their portfolio companies and investment targets.
This process often involves a highly manual process of sifting through mountains of information, from sustainability reports to corporate documents, to extract insights.
It also requires interacting directly with companies, generally by submitting ESG questionnaires that can oftentimes be rather cumbersome and are susceptible to human error.
All of these data gathering exercises are meant to provide investment teams with a better understanding of the ESG performance of target investments and portfolio companies - however, they are extremely expensive and time-consuming.
Intelligent tools like Briink's ESG Questionnaire Assistant can support investment teams - and company managers by automating manual and time consuming data management processes.
Briink's ESG Questionnaire Assistant leverages AI to screen company documents and pre-fill ESG questionnaires automatically and accurately. Here are a couple of ways investors use "ESG Questionnaire Assistant" to simplify their ESG workflows:
Use case #1: Streamline ESG due diligence
With Briink’s ESG Questionnaire Assistant, you can complete lengthy ESG due diligence in just a couple hours, compared to days or weeks it can take during manual reviews.
To run the due diligence process with Briink, all you need to do is identify the relevant company documents (in PDF format), this often includes sustainability reports, financial statements, annual reports, CSR reports and HR documentation, though there is no limit to the types of documents the tool can digest.
Once Briink has gathered all the relevant evidence from the uploaded documents, you can fill out any data gaps - cutting down substantially on the time and effort required to complete this process.
For additional information on the documents that can be processed by Briink, see the article “What document formats does Briink support?”.
Use case #2: Streamline ESG data collection for reporting
Mandatory and voluntary ESG reporting frameworks and regulations, such as the SFDR, require investors to collect and report on ESG data throughout the investment life cycle.
ESG Questionnaire Assistant can help you alleviate the reporting burden on both your investment teams and portfolio companies.
Similar to the use case for due diligence discussed above, just define your reporting framework criteria and KPIs, upload any relevant documents in the tool, and watch as the ESG data is automatically matched to your requirements.
Most ESG disclosure regulations require you to provide evidence of your claims. ESG Questionnaire Assistant provides you with all the source information, including the document name, page number, and the exact quotes that have been used to generate the questionnaire's answer, enabling you to enrich your ESG reports with concrete evidence and creating an auditable trail.
Use case #3: Compare ESG performance across different industries
ESG Questionnaire Assistant can also be used to streamline industry data analysis and benchmarking.
You can screen the public sustainability reports of multiple companies within the same industry or sector to compare the ESG performance, or analyze the standards within different industries.
This can enable your investment team to easily identify leaders and laggards in terms of ESG practices.
Note: Currently, Briink doens't have a specific feature for cross-company comparison. However, you can create and save an ESG screening questionnaire, and then run it against each company you are interested in easily and seamlessly. You can then easily export your results and use them to create a comparison table.
If you are interested in learning more about this use case and how to use ESG Questionnaire Assistant for industry benchmarking, join our upcoming Product Q&A Question.
In summary: Briink's ESG Questionnaire Assistant helps you simplify your ESG data collection efforts.
In a world where sustainability and ESG data are increasingly important, adopting AI technology like Briink’s is not just about simplifying bureaucracy and reporting processes – it's about identifying the most meaningful metrics and insights in the most efficient way possible.
Embedding AI tools in your investment workflows can help you reduce the chances of overlooking important issues. According to a recent working paper by scholars of Harvard Business School, knowledge workers who are able to integrate AI tools in their daily work experience higher productivity and accuracy compared to those who don’t.
Combining tools like the "ESG Questionnaire Assistant" with the human oversight minimizes the risk of overlooking critical ESG factors, ensuring that investors can make sound and truly sustainable investments choices.