After initially blowing off the criticism, Morningstar began a review two weeks before the Illinois Investment Policy Board was set tothe company, which would have barred state-run pension systems from investing in Morningstar.
Based on these findings, White & Case made various recommendations in the report, which we have decided to adopt in full.
Yet, notwithstanding the conclusions set forth at the beginning of the Report, the evidence collected and presented in the Report tells a different story. On a full reading of the Report, rather than exonerating Morningstar, the White & Case investigation instead demonstrates conclusively that Sustainalytics’ processes and products — including its flagship ESG Risk Ratings product — are infected by systemic bias against Israel.
Companies that are in any way involved in the Israeli economy are automatically identified as complicit in human rights abuses in all Sustainalytics’ core products and are thus disproportionately punished in Sustainalytics ratings compared to companies doing business in any other country.