Professional investors increasingly focus on environment, social and governance factors when they make investments, but according to the industry, the data bank used to assess responsible investments is too poor, news media Finans writes.

ESG performance indicators, illustrating the degree of responsibility of an investment, are based on unreliable data that are difficult to compare.

"Due to instable data quality, we have decided to buy ESG data from seven-eight sources and process the numbers in-house rather than using a single supplier’s rating. We also bring in data directly from the companies," Danske Bank Global Head of Sustainability and Impact Investments Ulrika Hasselgren tells Finans.

Jane Thostrup Jagd is Lead Researcher at the Center for ESG Research, and she confirms to Finans that reliable ESG data are indeed hard to find. However, at this stage, ESG development is happening so fast, that better data are right around the corner.

English edit: Karen Moesgaard