Rate the Raters 2026: Beyond the Score – Investor Views on ESG Ratings

ERM Sustainability Institute’s Rate the Raters 2026 examines how institutional investors use and evaluate ESG ratings, ESG data and sustainability information in investment decision-making. Based on investors representing approximately $23.5 trillion in assets under management, the report compares leading ESG ratings providers, tracks declining trust in ratings, and explores the growing role of regulation, underlying ESG data and artificial intelligence.

ERM Sustainability Institute202620 Oct 2026

PublisherERM Sustainability Institute

Year2026

RegionGlobal

FormatPDF, 1.4 MB

4views

Key Takeaways

The study surveyed 53 investment professionals whose organizations collectively represent around $23.5 trillion in assets under management, supplemented by 10 interviews with investors and industry leaders across four global regions. ermsi_report_rtr_20262
MSCI ranked first for both perceived quality and usefulness among surveyed investors, scoring 3.50 out of 5 for quality and 3.58 for usefulness. CDP and EcoVadis also ranked highly, although overall ratings scores declined compared with 2023. ermsi_report_rtr_20262
Investor trust in ESG ratings declined, with the average trust score falling from 3.31 in 2023 to 3.05 in 2026. The report links this to concerns around data quality, pricing, methodology and increased scrutiny of ESG ratings in capital markets. ermsi_report_rtr_20262
Investors increasingly prefer their own analysis over headline ESG scores. Corporate ESG ratings fell from 53% of respondents naming them among their most useful sources in 2023 to 31% in 2026, while in-house research, direct company engagement and sustainability reports ranked more highly.
AI is expected to play a growing role in ESG analysis: 65.9% of respondents expect to use AI for ESG data quality and validation, 61.4% for automated data collection and processing, and 52.3% for real-time monitoring of ESG events and controversies. ermsi_report_rtr_20262

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