MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of investment decision support tools, announced yesterday that it has signed an agreement with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to provide research and analysis for the ‘Access to Nutrition Index (ATNI) Project’, a collaborative effort between GAIN, the Wellcome Trust, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The principal objective of the ATNI Project is to achieve sustainable changes in the comprehensive nutrition practices of the global food and beverage industry, ranging from obesity to undernutrition. The main output of the ATNI Project will be the Access to Nutrition Index, which will publicly rate and rankmajor food and beverage companies on their nutrition practices.
The Access to Nutrition Index will comprise a core index of 25 of the world’s largest food and beverage companies by revenue, and three spotlight indices that assess ten of the largest food and beverage companies by revenue operating in India, Mexico and South Africa, respectively. The ATNI rating methodology will evaluate companies’ strategies and policies around nutrition as well as their performance in making more affordable, nutritious products available to consumers. Once completed, the Access to Nutrition Index will be administered outside of GAIN.
“We are proud that GAIN has chosen MSCI ESG Research to help produce the Access to Nutrition Index,” said Remy Briand, Managing Director and Global Head of Index and ESG Research at MSCI. “MSCI ESG Research has a long history of analyzing nutritional issues as part of its assessment of ESG impacts and risks for the food and beverage sector. Better access to nutrition is not just a growing challenge for food producers but for the entire global economy, affecting both developed and emerging countries.
