The due diligence process isn't getting any easier for investors. Aside from studying microeconomic, macroeconomic, and financial fundamentals, non-traditional information is being evaluated to determine portfolio risks. That includes social media, big data … and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. In a new report, MSCI has highlighted several ways ESG will be integrated into investors' decisions. First, ESG signals will be useful to find outperformers in developing countries. MSCI noted that while emerging-market countries have poor ESG ratings, "more than 15% of Emerging Markets domiciled constituents of the MSCI ACWI Index have ESG ratings that eclipse" their own country's ratings. Next, they predicted an increased role for climate-change scenario testing.