Fintech CapIntel adds ESG data as it pushes US expansion

Toronto-based fintech startup CapIntel, which is looking to expand its business in the US, is offering financial advisors a window into environmental, social and governance analysis they can use to show clients how sustainable their portfolios are.

CapIntel, which specializes in automated offer generation, workflow, and fund analysis for consultants, announced Tuesday a new ESG data component for the service. The firm uses MSCI’s ESG data to provide ratings, valuations and various metrics for funds, portfolios and individual stocks.

The new ESG component is “presented in a compelling way, making it easier [clients] to understand,” said CapIntel founder and CEO James Rockwood. “Out of the box, there are five key, customer-focused, easy-to-understand metrics.”

These include letter grades for the fund, portfolio, or stock, ranging from high AAA to low CCC; compliance of a security or portfolio with an average global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius; carbon emissions per $1 million in sales; ESG score relative to peers; and global ESG score. The service allows consultants to compare securities.

The service’s target groups — financial advisors and wealth management wholesalers — can also add ESG data points from around 230 others that MSCI provides, Rockwood said.

“We wanted to be very careful with the amount of data we provided. It should not be excessive,” he said.

For advisors, the new ESG information available can help in conversations with existing clients who have recently heard about sustainable investing, he says.

“It’s part of what we call the ‘modern investor’, the boomer who is influenced by the millennial kid,” he said. “They are talking at the dinner table around ESG.”

Last year, Charles Schwab gave its DIY investors access to MSCI ESG data on selected securities, helping them build their own sustainable portfolios.

In 2022, CapIntel’s Series A funding was $11 million, giving the firm the resources to hire a planned 150 additional employees as part of its US expansion goal. staff of 60 people.