mx logo-1
  • Offerings
  • Resources
  • About us
Contact us
search
fl1
fl2

Offerings

Our teams offer a range of bespoke insurance solutions for your clients. Click the tabs to explore our specialist offerings for complex and varied insurance requirements.

 

Risk Solutions
Commercial
Special Risks
MXC Online
Risk Solutions
Real Estate

Make your assets more bankable by protecting your investments and mitigating risks that knock property developments and portfolio values off track.

Find out more
Renewables

Unlock more development opportunities with our range of tools designed to help you drive your transition to renewable practices.

Find out more
Mergers & Acquisitions

Further ensure your business goals go to plan by wrapping your M&A risks up into one efficient policy.

Find out more
Commercial
Commercial Combined

Choose a comprehensive package to suit most of your insurance needs, with flexible limits that are suitable for businesses across a range of sectors.

Find out more
Liability

A flexible solution for specialist Liability insurance cover designed for your clients’ contractors across a variety of trades.

Find out more
Property Owners

Protect your more complex cases with solutions that most insurers cannot provide, including options for DSS Lets and Unoccupied Properties.

Find out more
Special Risks
Terrorism

Comprehensive Terrorism coverage for all types of commercial and residential risks including political and religious properties.

Find out more
MXC Online
MXC Online

We understand the importance of efficiency in your work, which is why we’ve created MX Commercial Online (MXC Online), an easy-to-use online tool with 24/7 access. Obtain and bind quotations for:

  • Primary Employers’ and Public Liability
  • Contractors All Risks (CAR)
  • Excess of Loss
  • Unoccupied Property
  • Property Owners risks 
Find out more

Resources

At MX, we understand the value in staying up to date with the latest knowledge, trends and news. Our blog posts will keep you informed and share updates on the team and our offerings.

 

Blog
Blog

Recent posts

Defining Terrorism: What brokers need...
Read more
Specialist Spotlight: Tim Skilton
Read more
MX Commercial case study: Tailored...
Read more
View All Blogs

About us

MX is a people-focused business with two key objectives: being a good colleague and hitting the numbers.

 

Who we are
Join MX
Who we are
Why MX?

We are a data-driven business providing innovative underwriting solutions for your clients using our in-depth knowledge of the insurance market.

Find out more
Our leaders

MX is led by experienced industry professionals who are passionate about building a business with purpose and relevance.

Find out more
Contact us

If you'd like to enquire about any of our underwriting services or have any other enquires, you can contact us here.

Find out more
Join MX
Life at MX

We create a high-performing and inspiring culture to help our colleagues grow and develop their careers.

Find out more
Get in touch

If you’re interested in joining MX through a job application or as a new acquisition, we’re always on the lookout for new, exciting opportunities.

Find out more

What is ESG?

Share this article:

What is ESG and where did it come from?

 

Environmental, Social, Governance or ‘ESG’ is a set of criteria or standards in a business’ operations. Interestingly, investors are using this criterion to help evaluate the merit of potential investments. The three pillars of ESG cover different company values:

Environmental: How businesses accommodate the planet throughout their activities.

Social: How businesses manage their relationships with their employees and the wider community.

Governance: This addresses a business’ leadership reputation, executive pay, audits, internal controls and share holder’s rights.

In essence, ESG helps investors evaluate the morals of a company, that has a demonstrated history in aiding the safeguarding of risk in a business.

“ESG is a collection of a very diverse array of environmental, social, and governance factors, concerns, and disciplines that companies are exposed to or have challenges around.

These factors have historically been internalised by business in terms or risk management and reporting.

Understanding these factors is now being viewed as essential to assist in business decisions and valuations. As such these factors are now becoming core to the business strategies of companies, and key factors external investors and lenders want to understand.

ESG is becoming a financial and credit risk which in turn could lead to a significant financial impact on their business.”
                                                 - Simon White

When did ESG begin?

Responsible investing began in the 1960s as an alternative view to investing in companies that had a greater focus on social and environmental responsibility. Investors subscribed to the ideal exclude stocks or entire industries from their investment portfolios to better support what they believe is progressive for the planet.

Momentum grew steadily over the next decades, and it wasn’t until 2006 that ESG was mentioned for the first time in the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). This was the first time that ESG became established as a framework to assist in the financial evaluations of companies. A huge win for champions of sustainable investments.

When did ESG become relevant for investing?

ESG issues were first mentioned in the 2006 United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) report consisting of the Freshfield Report and “Who Cares Wins”. The ESG criteria was, for the first time, required to be included in the financial evaluations of companies. This effort was focused on further developing sustainable investments.

At the time, 63 investment companies composed of asset owners, asset managers, and service providers signed with $6.5 trillion in Assets Under Management (AUM) incorporating ESG assessments into their investment decisions. As of June 2019, there are 2450 signatories representing over $80 trillion in AUM.

Fast-forward to today; corresponding values between company and investor continue to be common motivations of many investors. The area, however, has expanded to consider financial materiality, with investors looking to include ESG factors into their investment process just as much as they utilise financial analysis.  Today, many asset managers, investors, and lenders see ESG as a key part of the overall decision-making process.

In part this is due to growing evidence that companies which have a strong focus on ESG topics outperform companies which do not. According to research undertaken by McKinsey & Company, this focus allows better performance due to customer loyalty / reduced cost / reduced regulatory risk / attracting and retaining talent and investment optimization. This gives an estimated 10% advantage in the cost of capital against those companies which do not have a strong focus or strategy on ESG issues.

In 2021, investors concerned about climate change, sustainability and social justice invested a record $649 bn USD into ESG-focused funds, up from $285bn in 2019.  These ESG focused investors are also having far more of a say in how companies’ operate.  Support for social and environmental proposals at shareholder meetings in US companies hit 32%, up from only 21% in 2017.1 

ESG Ratings

This has materialised further, with ‘ESG Ratings’ now being attributed to measure the long-term resilience of companies.

For example, the ‘MSCI ESG Ratings’ model is used to identify ESG risk and opportunity. Key issues will be measured against this model which is based on over 13 years of data. Throughout time, you would expect the model to become more accurate, with more data to draw upon. The framework is as follows:

Laggard
CCC / B
Describes a company that generally fails the manage significant ESG risks.

Average
BB / BBB / A
This rating is the broadest and depicts a company as improving their ESG commitments, with the mixed success of the management of these risks.

Leader
AA / AAA
A rating that describes a company with best practice standards for managing ESG risk and opportunities.

ESG Legislation

ESG is now moving beyond the voluntary frameworks set up by NGO’s and the financial community. In order to protect consumers and allow a much better understanding of the products they are investing in, regulators are introducing comprehensive legislative frameworks.

This is now turning ESG reporting into a mandatory and legal requirement. One of the best examples of this is the EU Green Deal which is implementing a multifaceted approach to setting standards and reporting obligations.

At its core is legislation such as the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and the Non-Financial Reporting Directive, which work alongside the Taxonomy. The Taxonomy being a classification system identifying activities and objectives for what should fall within an ESG product.  

 

[1] Source: https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/how-2021-became-year-esg-investing-2021-12-23/

Posted in:
ESG
Simon White ESG
Find out more about our ESG offering
Underline your ESG commitments and protect the value of your real estate portfolio with a policy that steps in before the law requires - remedying historic contamination on your site and its impact on the wider environment.
ESG

More articles

Top 5 Ways ESG Creates Value for Investors and Businesses
Posted on 10 July 2023
Read more
What is the S in ESG?
Posted on 18 November 2022
Read more
What is the E in ESG?
Posted on 3 November 2022
Read more
  • Quick Links
  • Home
  • Why MX?
  • Team
  • Make a claim
  • How to make a complaint
  • Join MX
  • Contact us
  • MX Commercial Online
  • MX Online Agency Application
  • Blogs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Modern Slavery Act
  • Sectors
  • Real Estate
  • Renewables
  • ESG
  • M&A
  • Commercial Combined
  • Liability
  • Property Owners
  • Terrorism
SRG Group White
Join the mailing list

© 2025 MX - MX Underwriting Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 514681). Registered Address: 6th Floor, One America Square, 17 Crosswall, London, England, EC3N 2LB. Registered in England and Wales. (Company No. 05545292).
MX Underwriting Limited is part of the Specialist Risk Group.
 
MX Risk Solutions:
T: +44 (0) 203 409 9510
E: enquiries@mxunderwriting.com
 
© 2025 - MX Commercial is a trading name of GB Underwriting Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 304281). Registered Address: 6th Floor, One America Square, 17 Crosswall, London, England, EC3N 2LB. Registered in England and Wales. (Company No. 4692971).
GB Underwriting Limited is part of the Specialist Risk Group.
 
MX Commercial:
T: +44 (0) 1376 515 702
E: commercial@mxunderwriting.com
 

© 2025 - MX Special Risks Limited is an Appointed Representative of GB Underwriting Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 304281). Registered Address 6th Floor, One America Square, 17 Crosswall, London EC3N 2LB. Registered in England and Wales. (Company No. 04692971). GB Underwriting Limited is part of the Specialist Risk Group. 

MX Special Risks:
T: +44 (0)203 858 0039
E: specialrisks@mxunderwriting.com