SECN.L Regulatory News (SECN)

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26 October 2021

SEC Newgate SpA ("SEC Newgate" or "the Group")

Inaugural Global Thought Leadership Report

SEC Newgate S.p.A. (AIM: SECN), the insight-driven strategic communications group, has published its inaugural global thought leadership report - the SEC Newgate ESG Monitor - its first global initiative since all Group agencies transitioned to operate under the SEC Newgate brand.

As a global business working at the nexus of business, politics, communities, markets and media, SEC Newgate identified ESG as an issue that is critical to the reputations of business and governments globally. The SEC Newgate ESG Monitor is typical of the work the Group conducts for its clients to provide the insights and clear indicators needed to develop impactful campaigns, based on regression modelling to pinpoint specific factors that will have the biggest impact on perceptions.

SEC Newgate conducted research in ten countries into 10,000 consumers' attitudes to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) principles for governments and corporates. The report highlights that the public expects governments to lead on issues such as the global response to climate change while expecting companies to demonstrate clear evidence that they practice what they preach. The SEC Newgate ESG Monitor found that in all 10 countries, climate change or the environment was the number one ESG concern. It also identified environmental issues including action on climate change and carbon neutrality as being the most powerful factors in determining public perceptions of governments' and corporates' ESG performance.

Commenting, Group CEO, Fiorenzo Tagliabue, said:

"The SEC Newgate ESG Monitor is an important milestone publication for our group, and our first global thought leadership initiative under our unified brand. We are witnessing a sharp increase in demand for strategic advice and advocacy on ESG, an issue that represents a fundamental challenge for corporates and governments everywhere. We undertake actionable research and wanted to start a benchmark to understand consumers' views and what will help shift the dial. Our survey shows that there is strong public demand for consistent and measurable ESG reporting, significant levels of social media and buyer's choice activism in response to poor ESG performance, and demand for all organisations to take responsibility for issues such as their supply chains and contribution to local communities."

The SEC Newgate ESG Monitor will be an annual benchmarking index to measure global sentiment, so countries can track their performance year on year as well as compare their ranking with peer countries around the world. Copies of the full global survey and individual country reports (Australia, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, the UK and the U.S.A) can be downloaded at: www.secnewgateesgmonitor.com

Enquiries to

Notes to Editors

· SEC Newgate is an award-winning strategic communications firm. The Agency's team consists of c.600 staff, working in 38 offices, in 15 countries, across five continents.

· SEC Newgate's focus is on achieving positive outcomes through communications, advocacy and research, helping clients clearly demonstrate their purpose, value and impact locally, nationally and internationally.

· SEC Newgate Research is one of Australia's most sought-after market and social research firms for issues, opinion and reputation research. Accredited to the international standard for market research, we explore and measure knowledge, attitudes and behaviours to inform decisions around policies, organisational strategies, communications and messaging.

· Further information on SEC Newgate is available at www.secnewgate.com 

Key findings include:

· More than half of people worldwide (51%) said ESG performance influences their purchasing decisions, rating its influence as 7 or more on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 means it is 'not at all important' and 10 means it is 'extremely important'. In addition, over the last two years 32% had warned others against using a company because of its behaviour and 26% had discussed a company's behaviour online or on social media.

· The public is actively looking for quality information to help guide their knowledge of how governments and corporates are performing on ESG. Some 74% in all countries want to see consistent ESG performance measurement frameworks put in place that enable scrutiny and comparison. Also, 71% want more regulation on claims made by companies about their ESG performance. Among the other priorities people identified:

o Companies doing more to promote their ESG efforts to consumers and investors (74%)

o Seeing more evidence of companies giving back to their communities (73%)

o Companies improving processes to stop unethical practices (72%)

o Penalties for poor ESG practices (69%)

· Ethical supply chains have emerged as a key issue for both companies and governments when people evaluate ESG. It is rated globally as the top issue for companies to address (78%), followed by looking after their employees (77%) and giving back to the natural environment (76%).

· Overall, people tended to give corporates a little more credit than governments for addressing ESG issues, rating companies 5.7 out of 10 versus 5.5 for governments on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 means 'very poor' and 10 means 'excellent'. Both were seen as performing better on social issues than environment or governance, although companies are outperforming governments on governance.

· Driver analysis using regression modelling has isolated the most important areas for governments and corporates to focus on if they want to improve public perception of their ESG performance:

o For governments, action in governance will make the make the most difference. The factors that have the most impact in driving their ESG rating were their 'goals and ambitions for improving the environment', 'action on climate change', 'behaving ethically and doing the right thing' and 'being transparent in decision making'. In this last area, governments are seen as lagging which makes it a key area to target.

o For corporates, action on environmental issues will make the most difference in shifting opinion. The factors having the biggest issues on ESG ratings were 'responsible and sustainable use of natural resources' and 'genuinely working towards being carbon neutral' - currently companies are not well regarded on either measure.

· Modelling also shows that globally, banking and finance is the sector people are thinking of most when they rate companies in general for ESG performance, accounting for 19% of importance. Energy and utilities (11%), manufacturing (10%) and chemicals (9%) also featured prominently in people's thinking.

· Unprompted perceptions about who is doing well among companies appear to be influenced by people's awareness of retailers with prominent ESG messages. Those who generally scored well were large supermarket chains and technology companies.