Businesses that want to secure their societal and regulatory ‘licence to operate’ need to transition their products and practices to a sustainability-first model.

For financial services companies, a client-focussed strategy is the clearest path to transformation. Businesses will be judged on how effectively they enable their clients to meet the sustainability challenge. A world where capital is more sensitive to ESG profiles and ratings, means providing products and insights that reduce ESG risks while amplifying the competitive advantage of broad sustainability, to the point where sustainability becomes the only rational goal. In doing so financial services providers should seek to institutionalise their own sustainability mindset: that means building capabilities, data resources and products that customers, regulators and investors are certain to demand.