Emergence of Integrated Reporting

How can companies show the value of their nonfinancial, intangible assets in a way their investors can easily understand?

Over the last 30 years, intangible assets have moved from 20 percent to over 80 percent of the value of public companies, yet decision making within companies has failed to keep pace. Financial reporting has made even less progress in addressing these changes. As they take ESG impacts ever more seriously, US investors are urging management and the board to adopt a reporting method that accounts for both tangible and intangible assets. “Integrated reporting” is such a method: it provides a framework that highlights all the ways a company creates and will continue to create value.