CPE News (6.29.2022) – Morningstar Sustainalytics has acquired Aquantix. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Founded by Toby Messier and Steven Fortier, Montreal based Aquantix develops and delivers property-level climate risk data services for the real estate and mortgage lending industries. Aquantix’s AI-powered models quantify the impacts of climate change on half a billion residential and commercial assets in 180 countries.
Messier has joined Morningstar Sustainalytics as Commercialization Director of Real Estate Solutions.
With the demand for climate-related data accelerating among real estate investors, banks, and lenders, Aquantix’s technology and expertise will enable Morningstar Sustainalytics to help these key stakeholders assess climate-related risks in the global real estate space.
Morningstar Sustainalytics will also benefit from Aquantix’s strategic partnership with Teranet Inc. Teranet integrates Aquantix’s property-level climate risk data into its offerings to provide federally regulated financial institutions and regulators with market-leading data solutions. Collaborating with Teranet, Morningstar Sustainalytics will deliver high-quality real estate climate data solutions to decision-makers in real estate, banking, lending, and insurance.
photo credit: Aquantix
News Release
Morningstar Sustainalytics Acquires Property-Level Climate Risk Data Provider Aquantix
Aquantix’s expertise in assessing physical climate risks and advanced technology and modelling capabilities will strengthen Morningstar Sustainalytics’ Climate Capabilities and Solutions
TORONTO, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Morningstar Sustainalytics, a leading global provider of ESG research, ratings, and data, announced it has acquired Aquantix, a Montreal-based technology company that develops and delivers property-level climate risk data services for the real estate and mortgage lending industries. Aquantix’s AI-powered models quantify the impacts of climate change on half a billion residential and commercial assets in 180 countries. With the demand for climate-related data accelerating among real estate investors, banks, and lenders, Aquantix’s technology and expertise will enable Morningstar Sustainalytics to help these key stakeholders assess climate-related risks in the global real estate space.
To support more financial market stakeholders address the wide-ranging effects of climate change, Morningstar Sustainalytics has been investing in talent, technology and tools in order to rapidly expand its climate capabilities and solutions. Today, Morningstar Sustainalytics’ Climate Solutions team stands at more than 90 professionals, covering a variety of disciplines. With a skilled in-house team, combined with technology and analytics from Aquantix, Morningstar Sustainalytics will offer a range of market-leading climate solutions to empower investors, banks, lenders, and companies to make more informed climate-related decisions.
Morningstar Sustainalytics will also benefit from Aquantix’s strategic partnership with Teranet Inc., a global leader in modern registry solutions, real estate ecosystem platforms and data and analytics. Canada-based Teranet integrates Aquantix’s property-level climate risk data into its offerings to provide federally regulated financial institutions and regulators with market-leading data solutions. Collaborating with Teranet, Morningstar Sustainalytics will deliver high-quality real estate climate data solutions to decision-makers in real estate, banking, lending, and insurance.
“Real estate is an asset class directly impacted by increasing physical climate risks,” said Senior Vice President of Climate Solutions at Morningstar Sustainalytics, Azadeh Sabour. “With the addition of the Aquantix team and their technology, we are fast-tracking our asset-level data collection and developing innovative climate-focused solutions for the commercial and residential real estate market. We are excited to bring the Aquantix team into the Morningstar Sustainalytics family and look forward to collaborating with Teranet.”
“Banks, lenders and real estate asset managers require a comprehensive understanding of the impact that climate change has on their portfolio of real estate investments,” said Morningstar Sustainalytics’ Commercialization Director of Real Estate Solutions, Toby Messier. “Aquantix fills this void by capturing millions of climate-related data points and providing meaningful property risk metrics that measure the estimated asset damage from emerging climate events across various time frames and scenarios. By joining Morningstar Sustainalytics, we are in an even stronger position to scale and help more real estate financiers reach their broader climate change goals.”
For more information on Sustainalytics’ Climate Solutions, please visit here.
About Morningstar Sustainalytics
Morningstar Sustainalytics is a leading ESG research, ratings and data firm that supports investors around the world with the development and implementation of responsible investment strategies. For 30 years, the firm has been at the forefront of developing high-quality, innovative solutions to meet the evolving needs of global investors. Today, Morningstar Sustainalytics works with hundreds of the world’s leading asset managers and pension funds who incorporate ESG and corporate governance information and assessments into their investment processes. The firm also works with hundreds of companies and their financial intermediaries to help them consider sustainability in policies, practices, and capital projects. With 17 offices globally, Morningstar Sustainalytics has more than 1,500 staff members, including more than 500 analysts with varied multidisciplinary expertise across more than 40 industry groups. For more information, visit www.sustainalytics.com.
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SOURCE Morningstar Sustainalytics