Moody’s Corporation on July 24 said that it has acquired a majority stake in Four Twenty Seven Inc., a provider of data, intelligence, and analysis related to physical climate risks.
“The addition of Four Twenty Seven enhances Moody’s growing portfolio of risk assessment capabilities and underscores its work to advance global standards for assessing environmental and climate risk factors,” Moody’s said.
Moody’s is the parent company of Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics.
Moody’s said Four Twenty Seven will strengthen Moody’s growing thought leadership and research on incorporating climate risk into economic modeling and credit ratings and that the deal complements Moody’s recent acquisition of Vigeo Eiris, which provides environmental, social, and governance research data and assessments.
Four Twenty Seven scores physical risks associated with climate-related factors and other environmental issues, including heat stress, water stress, extreme precipitation, hurricanes and typhoons, and sea level rise.
Its scores and portfolio analytics feature global coverage and quantify climate risk exposures across asset classes, with detailed data covering over 2,000 listed companies, one million global corporate facilities, 320 REITs, 3,000 US counties, and 196 countries. Investors who buy bonds are increasingly taking note of climate risks in the bonds they purchase.
Moody’s Investors Service in late 2017 issued a report in which it “explained how it incorporates climate change into its credit ratings for state and local bonds. If cities and states don’t deal with risks from surging seas or intense storms, they are at greater risk of default,” Bloomberg reported.
Four Twenty Seven’s data and indicators are used by asset owners, asset managers, banks, corporations and government agencies to understand and evaluate the potential climate risk they hold in their portfolios and activities, Moody’s noted.
Four Twenty Seven will continue to be headquartered in Berkeley, Calif., operating under its existing brand, and will be an affiliate of Moody’s Investors Service.
