One index. Every SYNE Rating, on the same map.
The SYNE Index takes every ESG, Sustainability, Carbon and Supplier Rating we publish and plots it across two independent axes - so a company, project, or supplier can be benchmarked against any peer, in any country, sector or industry, on a single comparable map.
From a single rating to a market-wide map.
The SYNE Index turns every rating we publish into a comparable data point - giving investors, buyers, and regulators a consistent way to benchmark performance across companies, projects and suppliers, wherever they sit in the world.
Cross-Product Benchmarking
Every ESG, Sustainability, Carbon and Supplier Rating we issue is normalised onto the same two axes, for direct comparison.
Country, Sector & Industry Slicing
Filter the Index by jurisdiction, sector or industry to see how a peer group is positioned, not just a single entity.
Quadrant Positioning
Every rated entity is classified into one of four quadrants - Front Runners, Rising Stars, Emerging Stars or Backmarkers.
Trend & Trajectory Tracking
Index position is tracked release over release, showing whether an entity, sector or market is moving toward or away from the top-right quadrant.
Peer Group Comparison
Compare an entity against a custom peer set - direct competitors, portfolio holdings, or a supplier panel - on the same map.
Licensed Index Data
Underlying Index coordinates and quadrant assignments licensed for direct integration into internal dashboards and models.
Built for anyone who needs to compare, not just score.
A single rating tells you about one entity. The SYNE Index tells you where that entity stands relative to everyone else rated in its market, sector, or category.
Investors & Asset Managers
Screen and construct portfolios by quadrant position across equities, private holdings, carbon projects and supplier exposure.
Corporates & Procurement Teams
Benchmark your own Index position against sector peers, and set minimum quadrant thresholds for suppliers and partners.
Exchanges & Registries
Offer a market-wide reference index to participants, and run rated listing tiers built on quadrant classification.
Regulators & Policymakers
Track sector- and market-wide movement over time, rather than relying on a single point-in-time rating.
Insurers & Underwriters
Price risk relative to a peer group's Index position, not just an isolated rating with no market context.
Industry Associations
Publish sector-wide Index reports showing member positioning and year-over-year movement across quadrants.
Two axes. Kept deliberately separate.
Every SYNE Rating already scores an entity's underlying performance and the quality of the data behind it. The Index simply keeps those two judgements apart instead of collapsing them into one letter - because a rigorous framework applied to unverified data tells a very different story than a modest framework applied to rigorously verified data.
Standards & Scientific Alignment
How closely an entity's performance adheres to recognised, external frameworks - not an internal SYNE checklist.
- Adherence to recognised frameworks (GHG Protocol, ISO, ILO, ICVCM, SA8000)
- Breadth of criteria coverage across the underlying rating
- Methodology conservativeness & rigor
- Consistency with sector- and category-specific materiality
Data Quality & Assurance
How much confidence can be placed in the underlying data - regardless of how strong the framework applied to it is.
- Third-party verification & assurance level
- Site, field or geospatial verification where applicable
- Data traceability & transparency
- Frequency of monitoring & update cadence
One score hides the story. Two axes tell it.
Plotting standards alignment against data quality places every rated entity - company, project, or supplier - into one of four quadrants, regardless of which SYNE Rating produced its underlying score.
- Front Runners AA – AAA
- Strong adherence to recognised frameworks, rigorous data validation processes, and comprehensive reporting capabilities.
- Rising Stars AA – A
- Use of established frameworks and methodologies, but potential issues with data accuracy, consistency, or validation.
- Emerging Stars A – B
- Good data management and validation, but limited in the scope of frameworks or standards applied.
- Backmarkers B – C
- Basic adherence to regulations, with minimal emphasis on advanced frameworks or robust data validation.
Four quadrants, one shared grade range.
Every quadrant corresponds to a composite score range on the same AAA–D scale used across every SYNE Rating - so a Front Runner in Carbon Ratings and a Front Runner in Supplier Ratings mean the same thing.
Front Runner - highest confidence in financial stability, compliance and continuity, verified on-site and in documentation.
Front Runner or Rising Star - strong across most criteria, with only minor gaps in monitoring or documentation.
Rising or Emerging Star - material gaps in compliance or continuity identified and being actively addressed.
Emerging Star or Back Marker - significant improvement needed in financials, compliance or continuity planning.
Back Marker - fundamental gaps in financial viability or compliance controls.
No material evidence of financial viability or compliance capability.
Same scale, every product
The Index doesn't introduce a new grading language - it plots the same AAA–D grades from ESG, Sustainability, Carbon and Supplier Ratings, so quadrant position and letter grade always agree.
Position moves with re-rating
An entity's Index coordinates update every time it's re-rated, so movement toward or away from Front Runners is visible release over release, not just at a single point in time.
Peer sets, not just single points
The Index can be filtered to a custom peer group - a sector, a portfolio, a supplier panel - to see the shape of an entire population, not one dot in isolation.
A single letter can't tell you if you're comparing like with like.
Two entities can carry the same overall grade for very different reasons - one because it applies a rigorous framework loosely verified, the other because it verifies a narrower framework exhaustively. Collapsing both into one score hides that distinction from the people who most need to see it: investors sizing risk, buyers setting thresholds, and regulators tracking market-wide progress.
Why a single score isn't enough
A grade compresses two independent judgements - framework rigor and data trust - into one letter, hiding which one is actually driving the score.
What it means for cross-portfolio decisions
Investors and buyers rarely evaluate one entity in isolation - the Index makes it possible to compare a carbon project against a supplier or a listed company on the same map.
What it means for regulators & markets
Tracking quadrant movement at a sector or market level reveals whether a whole category is genuinely improving, or simply getting better at data collection.
What the Index actually tells you
Where an entity sits relative to every other rated company, project or supplier - not just how it scored against an internal checklist.
What separates the SYNE Index from a simple average.
Four principles run through the Index, whether it's plotting a single company or an entire sector.
Built on published ratings
Every Index position derives from a published SYNE Rating with its own disclosed methodology - never a standalone, opaque scoring model.
Axes kept independent
Standards alignment and data quality are never blended into a single input before plotting - each axis is calculated and disclosed separately.
Regulatory-grade independence
Operating under the EU ESG Ratings Regulation (ESMA 2023/2631) and the FCA Code of Conduct - methodology, conflicts and fees published.
One scale, every product
ESG, Sustainability, Carbon and Supplier Ratings all feed the same AAA–D scale and the same quadrant logic - no product-specific exceptions.
From a single rating to a licensable benchmark.
The Index is not a separate rating exercise - it's what happens after a rating is published, normalised for comparison across every SYNE product.
Independent Ratings
ESG, Sustainability, Carbon and Supplier Ratings are published under their own disclosed methodologies.
Axis Scoring
Each rating's underlying criteria are mapped onto the two Index axes - standards alignment and data quality.
Quadrant Assignment
Every entity is placed into one of four quadrants, filterable by country, sector, industry or custom peer group.
Index Data & Dashboards
Index coordinates and quadrant history are licensed for direct integration into portfolio, procurement and risk dashboards.
The SYNE Index is not a rating in itself.
A rating tells you about one entity, in isolation. The Index tells you where that entity sits once everyone else rated in its market is on the same map.
Derived, not independently scored
The Index doesn't run its own separate assessment - it's a normalised view of ratings SYNE has already published, refreshed as those ratings update.
Refreshed quarterly
Index positions are recalculated quarterly, or immediately when an underlying rating is updated, whichever comes first.
Built for peer groups
Best used to compare a set of entities - a portfolio, a supplier panel, a sector - rather than to evaluate a single entity on its own.
Follows the underlying rating
An entity only appears on a public Index view if its underlying rating has been published with consent; private ratings stay off the public map.
Populated as ratings publish
A newly rated company, project or supplier appears on the Index as soon as its first rating is published and consented for distribution.
Used across regulated markets
Referenced by exchanges, industry associations and regulators across our 71 licensed markets as a market-wide reference point.
One methodology, sliced a dozen different ways.
The same two axes and four quadrants apply everywhere - what changes is the peer group. Below are the standing Index families we publish and license; custom peer sets can be built on request for any portfolio, panel, or watchlist.
Country Index
Every rated entity within a single jurisdiction, benchmarked against local peers, local regulation, and national disclosure norms.
Sector Index
Cross-country benchmark grouping rated entities by GICS-aligned sector, for like-for-like comparison regardless of geography.
Industry Index
A narrower cut than sector - grouping entities by specific industry classification for granular, apples-to-apples peer benchmarking.
Regional Index
Aggregates country-level positioning into regional blocs - Europe, APAC, LatAm and beyond - for regional exposure and policy benchmarking.
Private Index (about-to-list companies)
A dedicated index for late-stage private companies preparing to list, giving underwriters and investors an early comparable benchmark ahead of IPO.
InvITs & REITs Index
A dedicated index for large Infrastructure Investment Trusts and Real Estate Investment Trusts, benchmarked on asset-level and trust-level criteria.
Green Bond Index
Tracks the rated credibility of green, social and sustainability-linked bond issuances, alongside their use-of-proceeds frameworks.
Custom Portfolio Index
Build a bespoke index across any peer group you define - an investment portfolio, a supplier panel, or a watchlist - refreshed on the same cadence.
Trajectory Index
Tracks quadrant movement release over release for any of the families above, isolating genuine improvement from one-off re-ratings.
Sliceable across 71 countries and every rated category.
The SYNE Index spans every entity rated under ESG, Sustainability, Carbon and Supplier Ratings - filterable by country, sector and industry to reveal how a market, portfolio or panel is positioned as a whole.
View the full country list →Each mark represents active coverage in one jurisdiction
The ratings that feed the Index.
The SYNE Index sits alongside - and draws directly from - the wider set of rating, data and advisory products built on the same methodology.
See where you sit on the SYNE Index.
Talk to our team about mapping your company, portfolio, or supplier panel onto the Index, or request a sector-level benchmark report.