Using Dataland as an Independent Source to Validate PAI Data for Audit

Öffentliche Versicherung Braunschweig (ÖVB) must report sustainability indicators for its investment portfolios under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). In particular, the calculation of Principal Adverse Impact (PAI) indicators requires reliable and traceable ESG data for portfolio companies. To strengthen the robustness of these datasets, ÖVB uses Dataland as a secondary ESG data source alongside its primary provider.

Challenge

For SFDR reporting, insurers must be able to demonstrate that the ESG indicators used in their PAI calculations are reliable and properly documented. In practice, this means that the values used in regulatory reporting must be traceable back to the underlying company disclosures. ÖVB receives ESG datasets from a primary data provider. However, when preparing documentation for internal controls and external audit, the reporting team must be able to show where individual indicators originate and confirm that the values used in the calculations correspond to the issuer’s published disclosures. Without a clear reference to the original source documents, this validation process can become time-consuming and difficult to document during audit reviews.

Solution

ÖVB therefore uses Dataland as a complementary ESG data source specifically for validation purposes. For selected portfolio companies and PAI indicators, the reporting team retrieves the corresponding datasets from Dataland. Because Dataland extracts ESG indicators directly from public company disclosures and provides transparent references including page numbers to the source documents stored on Dataland, the team can quickly verify that the values used in their reporting correspond to the issuer’s published information. The Dataland datasets are not used to replace the insurance’s primary ESG data provider. Instead, they serve as an independent verification layer that allows the team to confirm the correctness and origin of the indicators used in PAI calculations.

In addition, by activating Active Portfolio Monitoring, missing datasets for relevant issuers are automatically identified and requested for sourcing at an appropriate point in time, ensuring continuous portfolio coverage without manual follow-up.

Value

Using Dataland as a secondary data source significantly simplifies the validation of ESG indicators used in SFDR reporting. The reporting team can demonstrate to internal stakeholders and external auditors that the PAI values used in the calculations are consistent with the underlying issuer disclosures. This improves the transparency and auditability of the firm’s sustainability reporting while reducing the effort required to locate and document the relevant source information during audit processes.

At the same time, Dataland’s lean approach allows ÖVB to obtain the required validation data at comparatively low cost, without the need to purchase extensive data packages beyond their actual requirements.