ICE Launches Social Impact Scores

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) and risQ, a Boston-based startup focused on geospatial climate, economic and demographic data, announced the launch of a new data service that is designed to allow users to understand and score the potential social impact of an investment. The social impact scores leverage dozens of variables from multiple public data sources and peer-reviewed statistical methods to help quantify multiple dimensions of socioeconomic vulnerability and need. These scores are designed to signal the potential social benefit of an investment within a specific area, with higher scores indicating that a financial investment in a specific community is expected to have a larger potential social impact than an investment in a community with a lower score. Once calculated, the scores are mapped to ICE’s U.S. municipal bond reference data, providing an additional metric for customers to use to evaluate an investment or a portfolio. The score inputs include data capturing affluence, poverty, education, employment, housing costs, racial diversity, and health challenges. Aggregating these data points and mapping them to individual bonds can make it easier to compare cohorts and the potential social impact of an investment opportunity.