SINGAPORE, Sept 19 – Refinitiv today announced the 2021 Top 100 most diverse and inclusive organizations globally as ranked by the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Index.
The index ratings are informed by Refinitiv’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data, designed to transparently and objectively measure the relative performance of close to 11,000 companies representing 80%+ of global market cap across 500+ESG data points points, and provide clients with critical and differentiated insight.
In a statement today, Refinitiv said the top 100 companies come from the banking, investment services & insurance firms with a total of 13, followed by pharmaceuticals with 9, specialty retailers 8 and telecommunications services, personal & household products & services with 7 respectively.
United States led the Top 100 list with 25 firms followed by the United Kingdom with 9, Australia, Italy and Germany 6, Canada, France, and South Africa 5.
The top three companies were Gap Inc from the US with a score of 86, the Royal Bank of Canada with 81 points and Accenture Plc with 80.25 points.
Malaysia’s sole entry into the list was DiGi.Com.Bhd at the 95th spot and a score of 70.
Sixteen companies across eight markets in Asia Pacific (APAC) were included in this year’s Top 100 List. Australia continued to lead the region with six firms ranking among the top 100, followed by Japan with four companies.
| Ranking | Company | Country | Overall Score |
| 13 | Sony Group Corp | JAPAN | 77 |
| 25 | AGL Energy Ltd | AUSTRALIA | 74.5 |
| 26 | Samsung Electronics Co Ltd | SOUTH KOREA | 74.25 |
| 28 | Myer Holdings Ltd | AUSTRALIA | 74 |
| 30 | Nomura Holdings Inc | JAPAN | 73.75 |
| 67 | President Chain Store Corporation | TAIWAN | 71 |
| 68 | Home Product Center PCL | THAILAND | 71 |
| 73 | Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | JAPAN | 70.75 |
| 76 | G8 Education Ltd | AUSTRALIA | 70.75 |
| 79 | Stockland Corporation Ltd | AUSTRALIA | 70.5 |
| 81 | Manila Water Company Inc | PHILIPPINES | 70.5 |
| 86 | Unilever Indonesia Tbk PT | INDONESIA | 70.25 |
| 94 | CSR Limited | AUSTRALIA | 70 |
| 95 | DiGi.Com Bhd | MALAYSIA | 70 |
| 97 | Australia and New Zealand Banking GrpLtd | AUSTRALIA | 69.75 |
| 100 | Shiseido Company, Limited | JAPAN | 69.75 |
The D&I Index utilizes innovative analytics to rate and score companies across 4 main pillars: Diversity, Inclusion, People Development and Controversies. Only companies with scores across all four pillars are assigned an overall score (the average of the pillar scores). The top 100 ranked companies with the best overall D&I scores are selected for the Index.
“We are proud that our D&I index continues to demonstrate strong performance,” said Debra Walton, Chief Revenue Officer, Data & Analytics, Head of Group Strategic Accounts, London Stock Exchange Group.
“Since its launch in 2016 the index has consistently outperformed major market indices, demonstrating a high degree of correlation between company’s financial performance and their leadership in diversity and inclusion.”
Sang Lee, Head of Securities & Investments at Aite-Novarica Group, commented: “The growing industry interest in the D&I index reflects the shifting values and investor appetite for environmental, social, and governance related solutions across all sectors of the capital markets. Financial services firms and corporates are quickly becoming wise to the benefits of ESG not only as an investment tool, but as a culturally transformative tool that forges greater employee morale and production efficiencies.
Diversity and Inclusion in the workforce are core environmental, social and governance (ESG) themes, which financial professionals are more frequently incorporating into their investment strategies and capital allocation decisions.
COVID-19 has shone a light on why diversity is critical for business recovery and resilience. The main theme this past year was survival, as many companies and entire economic sectors were battered. In addition, issues of racial equity in society moved to the forefront of individual lives and businesses. At the same time, the business world is realizing that policies of diversity and inclusion (D&I) are more important than ever, part of an increased awareness of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues on the part of employees, customers, investors and community stakeholders, the statement said.
The D&I Index, launched in 2016, ranks the top 100 publicly traded companies globally with the most diverse and inclusive workplaces, as measured by 24 metrics across four key categories: Diversity, Inclusion, People Development and News Controversies.
Refinitiv, an LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) business, is one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure.
–WE