Announcement of Acquiring “AAA” Rating from MSCI ESG Research
-Promoting Continuous ESG Activities to aim at “A Company That Provides Solutions to Social Issues”-

SHIFT Inc. (“SHIFT,” headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; Masaru Tange, CEO and Representative Director) announced today that it has acquired the top rating “AAA” from MSCI ESG Research. As SHIFT acquired “A” rating in 2021, it has achieved improvement in two level. SHIFT regards that this result is mainly due to its disclosure on human resources management and privacy and data security.

In 2023, SHIFT received a rating of AAA (on a scale of AAA-CCC) in the MSCI ESG Ratings assessment.

1. SHIFT’s ESG Activities
Since its foundation in 2005, SHIFT has continued its business activities based on its corporate philosophy, “we seek out new value concepts and work sincerely to provide value to the world.” In 2009, SHIFT launched a software testing business, providing software quality assurance services in a variety of industries, such as financial, retail, logistics, and entertainment.
There still exist social issues around the Japanese IT industry, such as excessive labor due to the shortage of IT personnel, chronic industrial structural problems, and security accidents and incidents including the leakage of personal information. As a company “supporting to produce sellable products and services,” SHIFT is committed to providing essential solutions to customers’ business issues. In working to resolve essential business issues, SHIFT has continued its growth with a wide variety of initiatives that also contribute to resolving social issues around the Japanese IT industry.

Currently, SHIFT is advancing initiatives from a wide range of perspectives, including supporting the development of safe, secure, and comfortable software through the quality assurance business, solving issues in the Japanese IT industry, such as eliminating shortages of IT personnel and reforming the industry structure, providing employment opportunities for diverse human resources, and reducing the environmental impact on society. As a result of promoting these initiatives, in June 2021, SHIFT received conformance to Positive Impact Finance*1. In addition, since it disclosed measures and performances on human resources management, which is the “core” of our business, and information securities, that we are entrusted by our customers, SHIFT achieved “A” from MSCI ESG rating in December 2021. Moreover, as a results of expansion of measures and disclosures, it has attained the top rating “AAA” from MSCI ESG rating.

Going forward, while promoting dialogue with stakeholders, SHIFT will strive to become a company that solves social issues, and further work to grow the business of SHIFT Group as a whole and expand the provision of social value.

You may read our ESG initiatives and performances further from the link below.
https://en.shiftinc.jp/ir/esg/

*1 On June 30th, 2021, SHIFT has announced “Announcement of a Credit Line Established by “ESG/SDGs Assessment Loan (PIF Principle-applied)””
https://en.shiftinc.jp/news_en/announcement-of-a-credit-line-established-by-esg-sdgs-assessment-loan-pif-principle-applied/

*2 On December 15th, 2021, SHIFT has announced “Announcement of Acquiring “A” Rating from MSCI ESG Research”
https://en.shiftinc.jp/news_en/announcement-of-acquired-a-rating-from-msci-esg-research/

2. About MSCI ESG Rating Assessment
MSCI ESG Research provides MSCI ESG Ratings on global public and a few private companies on a scale of AAA (leader) to CCC (laggard), according to exposure to industry-specific ESG risks and the ability to manage those risks relative to peers.
https://www.msci.com/documents/1296102/15233886/MSCI-ESG-Ratings-Brochure-cbr-en.pdf/7fb1ae78-6825-63cd-5b84-f4a411171d34

3. About MSCI ESG Research
MSCI ESG Research provides in-depth research, ratings and analysis of the environmental, social and governance-related business practices of thousands of companies worldwide. Our research is designed to provide critical insights that can help institutional investors identify risks and opportunities that traditional investment research may overlook. The MSCI ESG Ratings are also used in the construction of the MSCI ESG Indexes, produced by MSCI, Inc.
https://www.msci.com/our-solutions/esg-investing

THE USE BY SHIFT OF ANY MSCI ESG RESEARCH LLC OR ITS AFFILIATES (“MSCI”) DATA, AND THE USE OF MSCI LOGOS, TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS OR INDEX NAMES HEREIN, DO NOT CONSTITUTE A SPONSORSHIP, ENDORSEMENT, RECOMMENDATION, OR PROMOTION OF SHIFT BY MSCI. MSCI SERVICES AND DATA ARE THE PROPERTY OF MSCI OR ITS INFORMATION PROVIDERS, AND ARE PROVIDED ‘AS-IS’ AND WITHOUT WARRANTY. MSCI NAMES AND LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OR SERVICE MARKS OF MSCI.