This additional non-financial disclosure will help to address material risks associated with these topics that are showing greater and greater interest from the investment/pension community through impact investing/responsible investing. iXBRL is currently being used to data tag financial information of public companies in the world's capital markets for greater transparency and analysis for the public
The IMA is a big supporter of sustainability reporting/ integrated reporting as discussed in this memo on the topic to the The International Integrated Reporting Council ( IIRC ): “The international market place is increasingly paying more attention to non-financial information about organizations to better understand their performance, value and reputation – all one need do is look to the trillions in assets under management of the signatories of the UN Principles of Responsible Investing (UNPRI), or for that matter, to the number of private equity, venture capital and hedge funds dedicating significant portfolio allocations to companies that measure and report on their operations as well as their environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices
Long gone are the days where only a few “socially responsible” investors focused on sustainability issues – today, some of the country’s largest asset managers (e.g., Vanguard, BlackRock Inc., Fidelity Investments, State Street Global Advisors) and public pension funds (CalPERS, CalSTRS, NYS funds) are publicly advocating greater corporate accountability in the ESG realm, perhaps most notably in the area of climate change