Hill+Knowlton Strategies enhances sustainability practice with Integrated Reporting offering

Hill+Knowlton Strategies announced today the launch of a new offering that will advise companies on how to use sustainability efforts to improve their financial performance through integrated reporting, a comprehensive method for reporting value, performance and impact. The firm's new partnership with Harvard Business School Professor Robert G. Eccles, one of the world's foremost experts on integrated reporting, and Eccles' firm, Glenelg Partners, will support this industry-leading offering.

Integrated reporting is the disclosure of a company's financial and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in a single document. Integrated reporting is a journey of continuous improvement. H+K Strategies' integrated reporting offering will help companies at each stage of this process, from understanding how to consider nonfinancial information in a financial context to publishing an integrated report. The service will be led by Robert Ludke, Senior Vice President in Hill+Knowlton Strategies' Washington, D.C. office, with counsel from Professor Eccles.

"Hill+Knowlton Strategies has provided counsel to corporations around the world on how to become more sustainable and how to communicate those efforts," said Ludke. "What we've heard from investors, corporate sustainability experts and many of our clients is that there is a need for the next generation of corporate reporting, in which financial and nonfinancial information are integrated."

Research by Prof. Eccles has found that high-sustainability companies ” those with a long, consistent track record of engaging in and disclosing efforts to operate with economic, social and governance policies in mind ” significantly outperform their counterparts over the long-term, both in terms of financial performance and rate of return for investors.

"Investors find less risk in more transparent companies because there is less uncertainty about their ability to deliver expected financial performance," said Eccles. "Integrated reporting is a powerful tool for improving performance and generating value for shareholders over the long term. I'm looking forward to partnering with H+K Strategies and its clients to execute integrated reporting strategies that transform a company's data into a holistic description of the company's past performance and future prospects."

Sarah Leiseca, Vice President in H+K Strategies' Washington, D.C. office and member of the sustainability practice, said, "Because of their growing influence, businesses are increasingly being held accountable for their impact on society. According to new H+K Strategies research, more than two-thirds of Americans hold corporations directly accountable for their actions, agreeing that public backlash against a company's actions can seriously harm its bottom line even if that company doesn't deal directly with the public."

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