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Alaya Consulting is a specialist consultancy focusing on ESG reporting, pre-assurance and sustainability training.
Alaya Consulting is a specialist consultancy focusing on ESG reporting, pre-assurance and sustainability training.
Associate consultant
Ruby Fang joined Alaya Consulting as an associate consultant in hopes to promote corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Her main role includes day-to-day client communication, data management and preparation of reports. She graduated from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with a major in Environmental Sciences and a minor in Social Sciences. Ruby has also completed the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) accreditation training.
Associate consultant
I joined Alaya Consulting with an interest in environmental protection and sustainable development, hoping to provide better solutions for different companies, promoting sustainable development and achieving carbon neutrality. I was mainly responsible for data collection, environmental disclosure, carbon audits and assisting in the preparation of reports. I am fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. I graduated with a master’s degree in environmental engineering and management from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science from Nanjing University. I am also a yoga enthusiast.
Associate consultant
Xiaotong is responsible for handling data collection, writing ESG reports, and day-to-day client communications. She also assists with ESG disclosures and client support. She obtained her Master of Chemical Engineering in Shenzhen University, with a longterm focus on environmental pollutant assessment.
She also graduated in Bachelor of Engineering Science from Chang’an University, majoring in water pollution management.
Intern
Alisa Lam is an intern working at Alaya consulting during her gap year. She plans on studying Politics, International Relations and Global Sustainable Development at Warwick University in 2022. She has a keen interest in understanding what makes the best sustainability report, promoting corporate social responsibility and learning how to tailor sustainable strategies for different companies. She understands that implementing environmental and social policies is crucial in building a successful and resilient enterprise in today’s world. She is responsible for writing and revising reports as well as doing research for Alaya.
Management Trainee
Gabriel joined Alaya Consulting as a management trainee, responsible for conducting ESG advisory and reporting along with assisting the business development and marketing team.
He graduated from The University of Hong Kong with a bachelor’s degree of science majored in Environmental Science. Gabriel understands that working towards improving environmental and social issues is fundamental to building a sustainable and successful business. He would like to make a positive impact by joining the ESG advisory industry.
Associate consultant
Better ESG management shapes a more resilient and sustainable future.
Responsible for handling social data collection and analysis; Assist in preparing the sustainability report and daily communications with clients; Advise clients on ESG- related issues to optimize ESG disclosure and improve ESG performance.
Graduated from Uppsala University in Sweden with a master's degree in business and economics. Master thesis themed in green finance.
Associate Consultant
Eason joined Alaya Consulting as an associate consultant, responsible for preparing ESG reports. He is passionate about sustainability and eager in helping enterprises to improve their ESG performance. He graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong with a bachelor’s degree in science, major in Earth System Science and minor in Biology. Eason’s hobbies are playing table tennis and playing the guitar.
Consultant
Alva Yeung is keen in helping companies create sustainability strategies to help mitigate environment and social impact. Coming from an international relations background, she is familiar with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, UN Global Compact and other international initiatives. She is also responsible for social data analysis, facilitating stakeholder communication, ESG report writing and day-to-day client communication. Alva has completed the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) accreditation training.
Alva obtained her Master of International Relations and Public Affairs in University of Hong Kong and Bachelor Degree in City University of Hong Kong, major in Asian and International Studies.
Business Development and Marketing Manager
Sunny joined Alaya in 2020 with a goal to bolster ESG and sustainability in Hong Kong.
He works with Alaya to develop and promote its initiatives such as HERA and ESG Newswire.
He also works with existing and new partners to collaborate and host events promoting ESG strategy and disclosure.
Sunny has great plans to design and develop Alaya’s own ESG rating system in the coming future.
Born in India, bred in Hong Kong, and a bachelor’s degree from NYU, Sunny comes from a rich and diverse range of experiences.
He majored in Finance and Marketing and minored in Social Entrepreneurship.
He co-founded his own social enterprise, Grounded Upcycling, in New York that upcycles spent coffee grounds into soap and face masks.
In his free time, Sunny likes to go hiking, read, or play Squash!
Founder
Tony is the founder of Alaya Consulting Limited. With more than 16 years of experience in advising C-suite executives, both in-house and from the client side, he is particularly experienced in the development of corporate sustainability strategies, training, communication and ESG reporting approaches.
Tony works with client companies to help them improve disclosure levels and ESG ratings. Recent clients include AAC Technologies, CIMC, Panda Green Energy, Chiho Environmental Group, Integrated Waste Management, Baguio, MicroPort, Tianjin Port and others. Recent projects include organising the Hong Kong ESG Reporting Awards, contributing to the development of industry best practices.
Tony is a Chartered Company Secretary, a GRI Nominated Trainer, a carbon audit professional accredited by the Association of Energy Engineers, a Practitioner of Institute of Environmental Management Association and a certified sustainability assurance practitioner. He has also successfully completed the practitioner training of Integrated Reporting.
Prior to setting up Alaya, Tony assumed senior roles in various leading communications agencies and a Fortune top 10 financial services group. Before embarking on his career in communications, Tony spent a number of years in banking and financial journalism. He received a master’s degree in Corporate Governance from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a bachelor’s degree in International Business from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
What You Need to Know for FTSE4Good Inclusion
The FTSE4Good Index Series was launched by FTSE Russell in 2001, primarily designed to facilitate the creation of index tracking funds and derivatives, while serving as a performance benchmark in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) aspects. The series consists of a myriad of market capitalization-weighted indexes that measure the performance of companies with strong ESG practices.
To date, there are 23 Hong Kong companies in the universe of FTSE4Good; whereas globally, the total number of constituents amounts to 1,076 from 25 countries and regions. Every year, companies are assessed between March and April by FTSE researchers according to public information. This is followed by the incorporation of company feedbacks into the assessment, and the computation of the final ESG ratings, which are reviewed twice a year in June and December respectively.
How its scoring system works
The rating for FTSE4Good is built on the foundation of the precedent FTSE ESG Ratings, which is a meticulous and comprehensive process that entails four hierarchical layers in calculating the final ESG scores. Below is a snapshot of how the model is structured.
Source: FTSE Russell, 2019
Essentially, the first level includes over 300 Theme Indicators that are used to compute Theme Scores on the next level, while being assessed based on levels of public disclosure, coverage and performance of respective companies.
The second level consists of Theme Score and Theme Exposure; the latter determines the relevance of various ESG aspects to a particular Theme (which takes into account the characteristics of the geographical location and industry sector that certain companies operate in), and the Theme Score will be calculated accordingly.
Moving onto the third layer – the Pillar, Pillar Exposure is calculated as an average of relevant Theme Exposures, while Pillar Score is the Exposure-weighted average of all three Theme Scores. Lastly, the ESG rating is computed as an Exposure-weighted average of the three Pillar Scores.
Inclusion and removal
In order to be included in the FTSE4Good Index Series for rating, companies must have an overall ESG Rating of 3.3 out of 5 based on FTSE Russell’s ESG Ratings and data model, which contains over 7,200 securities from 47 developed and emerging markets. The selection criteria for the FTSE4Good indexes is illustrated below.
On top of that, companies engaging in industries that are exposed to “significant controversies”, including the production of tobacco, weapons systems, controversial weapons and coal, are excluded from the index.
The FTSE4Good Index Series is reviewed semi-annually to evaluate its constituents’ performances. If a company’s ESG Rating has fallen below the minimum requirement, it will be given a 12-month grace period to work on improvements; failure to do so will result in removal from the index. Moreover, in order to address the constantly changing norms and expectations, the criteria are reviewed and enhanced from time to time to ensure that the index remains up-to-date and aligns with the latest trends.
FTSE4Good is company-specific
A predominant factor that accounts for the prominence of FTSE4Good Index is its company-specific rather than generic rating system. Risk categories are defined with a wide range of contextual information beyond industrial sector, some examples are the countries of operation, and the proportion of revenues from different countries and products. This results in a more accurate analysis tailored to specific companies, which allows them to better assess their own progresses and achievements in ESG. The index could also be used as a basis for improvement in ESG aspects, companies are directly engaged in the assessment process and are therefore more motivated to address rooms for improvement. The fact that new criteria are constantly added also encourages continual reflection and review on companies’ ESG practices, hence driving significant values for the growth of ESG.