Voluntary Quality Standard

The Voluntary Quality Standard (VQS) was developed by the Association of Independent Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility Research (AI CSRR) to drive high quality research and analysis in the field of corporate responsibility and, specifically, socially responsible investment. The standard was released in answer to demand from companies worldwide for disclosure on, and assurance of integrity, transparency and accountability in research processes. A number of high-profile organisations have already signed up to the voluntary standard and have been subsequently certified by an Independent Certification Council.

The main requirements of the standard are as follows:

• Focus on continuous qulaity improvement and develop an action plan to drive this.
• Develop and integrate best practice codes of conduct to ensure independence, integrity, probity, transparency and accountability.
• Ensure robustness of processes and subsequently embed monitoring of quality.
• Reassure clients and other stakeholders that the company does exactly what it says it does.
• Publish an externally verified transparency matrix.