Our services

Awards

Integram has ranked in the top 5 since inception

ESG research

We provide detailed analysis of the latest information on:

Environmental policy and practices, climate-change mitigation, alignment with global standards (E)
People practices, workforce data and trends, social impact including corporate social investment (S)
In-depth reviews of remuneration policy, governance structures, the board and its committees (G)

We specialise in identifying sustainability risks to help institutional investors prepare to meet with corporates. Since management engagements usually take place before, at or after AGMs, our reports include fully researched and substantiated proxy-voting recommendations.

80%

Track record in correctly identifying sustainability risks

Based on votes at AGM

Tailor-made for investors

We developed our research methodology specifically for investors.

Investors are the audience corporate governance must speak to first, as a willing investor is the key component of sustainability. Without investors there would be no factories, no scientific advances, no employment, no initiatives to support vulnerable communities or protect the planet.

Independent

Research is in-house and from first principles

We do the research in-house, with no affiliations to financial institutions, research service providers or ratings agencies. While the information we use is all in the public domain, we add value by identifying omissions, recurrences and trends that are usually indicators of sustainability risk.

First-principles thinking

Reverse-engineer complicated issues by breaking them down into basic elements and reassembling them from the ground up.

Our research is detailed and thorough. Our methodology is rigorous and consistently applied – our clients know what to expect and know they can rely on Integram to deliver a consistent product, designed specifically for investors.
Research offering +

We generally produce 3-7 research reports per month:

  • Typically 25-40 pages
  • Company-specific
  • Comparative data on peer competitors
  • Theme reports on trends we have identified.
More than research +

Our service goes way beyond research reports and is not limited to the stocks we cover – we are a learning organisation and believe continuous learning is key to sustainability.

We engage with our clients continually to provide updates, share knowledge and help them prepare to engage with corporates, vote at shareholder meetings and provide substantiated feedback to their own clients. We value these relationships as we learn from our clients, which in turn enables us to provide better research and better service.

We simplify the ‘noise’ in the ESG space +

ESG (environmental, social, governance) is becoming mainstream for all stakeholder groups, with new codes, legislation and best-practice guidelines appearing continually. This can be confusing, particularly when there is a delay between legislation and codes being adopted and becoming mandatory. Our methodology is flexible enough to accommodate these changes as they appear, ensuring our recommendations are current and relevant.

Our scoring methodology considers sincere intent and transparent disclosure as key initial components of a company’s sustainability. We are wary of ‘box-ticking’. We examine what is disclosed and note what is missing. When disclosure is omitted, this is usually not accidental as there is a plethora of consultants in every geography advising on regulatory compliance and reporting standards. Through experience, we have learned that the biggest sustainability risks can lie in what is not disclosed.

Stock-specific analysis +

Our company (stock-specific) reports are published 8-14 days before the AGM and typically include:

  • AGM agenda with proxy-voting recommendations
  • Detailed substantiation for each recommendation
  • One-page sustainability scoresheet, highlighting potential governance risks
  • Review of environmental policies and practices, highlighting deviations from best-practice, legislation and more
  • Climate-change mitigation performance: 3-year comparison of data with comment on trends
  • Social performance: 3-year comparison of key social metrics including corporate social investment (CSI) and community initiatives; staff development, transformation, remuneration and pay gap
  • In-depth analysis of the board in terms of:
    • King’s six capitals for integrated thinking
    • Directors’ independence
    • Directors’ capacity
    • Audit committee (independence, capacity, expertise)
    • Remuneration committee (independence, capacity, expertise)
    • Sustainaility committee (independence, capacity, expertise)
    • Board demographics – socio-economic metrics
    • Board demographics – integrated thinking
    • Board qualifications
    • Board expertise (not necessarily the same as qualifications)
  • Detailed analysis of each director’s career history, current directorships, associations with other board members, and more
  • In-depth discussion of company-specific issues
  • Voting results for the four prior AGMs
  • Comprehensive explanation of our scoring and analysis processes.
Theme reports +

Theme reports are published when we identify important trends. These can be per sector, per company or in the broad ESG arena. To date, our theme reports include:

  • Climate impact of green bonds
  • Comparative analysis of carbon emissions (80 stocks)
  • Consequences of setting aside mandatory audit firm rotation
  • Trends in board demographics
  • Executive remuneration
  • Ranking stocks under coverage by sustainability scores
  • Linking sustainability to valuation
Bespoke research +

We frequently undertake bespoke research for institutional investors and corporate clients. To date, completed projects include:

  • Property sector: ESG encyclopaedia (in-depth ESG analysis on ten companies, 335 pages, February 2022)
  • Environmental policies, metrics and targets
  • Banking sector (stockpicking using ESG metrics, 63 pages, June 2021)
  • In-depth analysis of governance practices at Resilient stable of companies
  • Various stock-specific reports across sectors

We prefer to charge these clients a lower fee if they allow us to publish our findings to other clients after an agreed period.

Pricing +

Our research is very competitively priced and we are flexible on payment structure. We service most of the large asset managers with about half paying us directly and half through brokerage.

Our fees include a comprehensive service: around 50 company-specific reports each year and access to our analysts (by phone, email and face-to-face), timely emails on relevant, fresh information, insights from Integram team members as well as periodic research requests on stocks we don’t cover (research pipeline permitting).

Bespoke research is not included in our normal fee.