Resonate Research Finds Financial Services Companies Increasingly Identify and Manage Sustainability Risks

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Sep 05, 2012, 12:06 ET

BERWYN, Pa., Sept. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial services companies are often thought to have a weak business case for sustainability management, yet US-based financial services companies are reporting on their sustainability activity in greater numbers and with increasing detail, according to the first of a three-part white paper series released today by Resonate, a strategic sustainability management company. Based on a review of recent reports and public communications, Resonate's white paper series, entitled "The Rising Tide of Sustainability: Uncovering the Value for Financial Services Companies," takes a detailed look into the sustainability related risks, risk mitigation strategies and value enhancement opportunities identified by the largest US-based financial services companies. The first paper in the series focuses on the evolving set of social and environmental risks facing companies in the sector and provides a context as to why and how these risks are becoming increasingly important for managers to understand and factor into business planning.

"Despite the fact that financial services companies have relatively little in the way of direct environmental impacts as compared to companies in manufacturing or consumer products sectors, they have significant people-related sustainability risks and considerable indirect environmental and social risk," said Jennifer Anderson, Principal and Co-Founder of Resonate. "One of the driving factors elevating corporate focus on sustainability matters today is investor pressure. Investors are increasingly interested in what the companies they invest in are doing to identify, assess, and manage sustainability-related risks and opportunities, especially as it relates to governance and climate change. It is also not lost on financial services companies that they cannot demand social and environmental risk assessment and reporting from others without doing it themselves."

The second and third papers in the series will summarize the strategies undertaken within the sector to mitigate sustainability risks and reveal the set of opportunities for expense reduction, product and service innovation, and/or market share growth identified by companies in the sector.

Click here to download a copy of the first paper in the series.

About Resonate

Resonate is a strategic sustainability management company based in the Philadelphia, PA area. Resonate specializes in helping service sector businesses create additional value by understanding and more effectively managing the impacts they have on people and the environment.

For more information, visit www.resonateworks.com.

SOURCE Resonate