Covalence EthicalQuote is an ethical reputation index tracking the world’s largest companies and Swiss equities. We provide media analytics and extra-financial ratings to corporates and investors since 2001.

EthicalQuote confronts quantities of positive and negative news items gathered on the web.

Companies and investors need extra-financial ratings that face the problem of defining ethics, rely on credible information and have economic relevance.

The award-winning EthicalQuote system relies on international social and environmental standards while respecting cultural diversity, political pluralism and scientific uncertainty which characterize modern society. Using multiple sources of information, it offers a democratic view of corporate ethical reputation.

Reflecting public opinion in a pragmatic and dynamic way, this ethical reputation scoring system allows to explore and use potential correlations between ethical and financial measures of performance.

Our conviction is that ethical reputation is translating trust and consensus of the different stakeholders in a company, and its ability to adequately factorize social and environmental concerns. It is an indicator of the quality of risk management, brand positioning, innovation capacities, and strategic vision. Ethical reputation is also a measure of the return on investment of Corporate Social Responsibility programs.

The EthicalQuote scoring system is a reputation index based on quantifying qualitative data, which is classified according to 45 criteria such as labour standards, waste management, product social utility or human rights policy. It is a barometer of how multinationals are perceived in the ethical field.

Inspired by stock quotes, EthicalQuote integrates thousands of positive and negative news items found among media, companies, blogs, NGOs and other online sources. The documents are coded, quantified and synthesized into curves and volumes. This process relies both on technology and on human analysis (500 intern ethical information analysts have collaborated with Covalence since 2001). > Methodology.

In 2012 the ethical expertise of Covalence and the financial knowledge of the BBGI Group have been combined to create the BBGI-EthicalQuote Indices, the first group of ethical indices in Swiss equities.

The EthicalQuote scoring system has brought the following recognitions and awards to Covalence:

• Ethisphere 2009’s 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics
• Finalist Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 Switzerland
• Prix cantonal du développement durable 2004 (Geneva)

Covalence maintains a strong presence in the media globally: > Covalence in the News

Covalence SA is a limited company based in Geneva, Switzerland, founded in 2001. It employs a staff of 4 plus several interns.

The creation of Covalence has been supported by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and NGOs ADAP (Association pour le Développement des Aires Protégées), AGSI (Association Geste Solidaire Immédiat), and GRAD (Groupe de Réalisation et d’Animation pour le développement).