RepRisk alternatives: reputational risk data compared

Published by Polecat. Polecat is one of the providers compared here. Competitor details are drawn from each company's own published materials as at October 2026, and we say plainly where another provider is the better fit.

The short answer

The best RepRisk alternatives depend on who is buying. Investors who want controversy data inside an ESG ratings framework should look at MSCI and Morningstar Sustainalytics. Corporate risk and corporate affairs teams that need a measured, forward view weighted to their own strategy should look at Polecat. Datamaran suits regulatory and materiality work, SIGWATCH suits NGO campaign tracking, and Signal AI suits licensed news monitoring.

Why do teams look beyond RepRisk?

Teams usually look beyond RepRisk because their job differs from the one it was built for, not because it does that job badly. RepRisk is a long-established Swiss provider of business conduct and ESG risk data, with a daily-updated record of reported incidents back to January 2007. Financial institutions use it for due diligence, compliance and risk management, through FactSet, Bloomberg and Snowflake.

Two kinds of buyer look elsewhere. Some investors want controversy assessments inside the ESG ratings framework they already use, which points to MSCI or Sustainalytics. Corporate teams often want what RepRisk does not set out to provide: developments beyond adverse incidents, weighting to their own strategy and a forward projection.

What should you look for in a RepRisk alternative?

You should judge alternatives on the decision the data has to support. Six criteria matter most.

1. Who it is built for. Investor screening and corporate risk management need different outputs, even from similar sources.
2. Scope. Adverse incidents only, or the wider outside world: regulation, NGO activity, academic research, investor scrutiny and supportive developments as well as hostile ones.
3. History and comparability. A long, consistently scored history is what makes this year's issue comparable with past ones, and one company comparable with its peers.
4. Forward view. Look for a stated horizon and scenarios, or be clear that the product describes the present and the past.
5. Weighting. Uniform scoring suits screening many companies. Calibration to your own taxonomy and strategy suits managing one organisation's risks.
6. Delivery. Investment data channels, an API into a GRC platform, daily briefings or board reports: choose the route your users already work in.

Our guide to what Strategic External Intelligence is includes a ten-question checklist for any provider.

RepRisk alternatives at a glance

The table summarises the six alternatives covered below.

Polecat

Polecat delivers Strategic External Intelligence for corporate risk leaders: it measures the whole outside world, scores every event the same way, weights it to one organisation's strategy and projects where each risk is heading.

Why it matters. A corporate risk committee asks how exposed the organisation is, compared with peers, and what is coming next. At Wendy's, 25% of documented risks are first surfaced by Polecat's horizon scanning, before they appear anywhere else on the register.

How it works. Polecat monitors more than 1.4 million premium sources across 195 countries, merges coverage into single material events and scores each on six factors: severity, velocity, sentiment, authority, reach and history. Scores are benchmarked against 20 years of comparable events and roll into a Risk Index out of 100. The Customer Intelligence Model calibrates to each client's taxonomy, definitions and thresholds, so the same event can register as a risk for one company and an opportunity for another. Each risk is projected 3 to 6 months ahead with base, best and worst cases. Our page on how Polecat scores events sets out the method.

What you get. Daily alerts and briefings, then monthly or quarterly dashboards and board reports, all on one engine, with every score traced to its source evidence.

Where it lives. Briefings and dashboards, an API into GRC and integrated risk management platforms, and MCP access from AI assistants. Polecat publishes its entry price: a £25K fixed-scope Risk Intelligence Audit.

Compared with RepRisk: RepRisk records reported conduct incidents across a very large universe of companies for investors and compliance teams; Polecat measures the whole outside world for one organisation, weighted to its strategy and projected forward. Our full Polecat vs RepRisk comparison goes further.

Best for: chief risk officers, enterprise risk and corporate affairs teams that need a measured, comparable, forward view of their own organisation's exposure.

MSCI Controversies and Global Norms

MSCI's controversies research (MSCI Controversies and Global Norms) assesses companies' involvement in reported environmental, social and governance controversies and feeds those assessments into MSCI ESG Ratings and norms-based screening. It is produced by MSCI Sustainability and Climate, part of MSCI Inc., a US listed company.

Where it is strong. The methodology, updated in April 2026, is detailed and public: 28 themes, four severity levels, a direct or indirect role, and defined case statuses. Companies receive a Controversy Score from 0 to 10 and a Red, Orange, Yellow or Green flag, and controversies feed directly into MSCI ESG Ratings, so investors get them within one framework.

What to consider. It is built for investors. The company score is set by the lowest-scoring pillar, so it reflects the single most severe case rather than a weighted profile, and MSCI states that controversies are allegations, not assertions of fact. It does not publish a forward forecast or describe weighting to a client's own strategy.

Compared with RepRisk: MSCI suits investors who want controversies integrated with ESG ratings and norms screening; RepRisk stands apart as an independent dataset with deep coverage of non-listed companies and projects.

Best for: asset managers and asset owners that already use MSCI ESG Ratings and indexes and want controversy assessments inside the same framework.

Morningstar Sustainalytics Controversies Research

Morningstar Sustainalytics, part of Morningstar, identifies and rates companies' involvement in ESG-related incidents through its Controversies Research product. Sustainalytics states that it is sold mainly to institutional investors such as asset owners and asset managers.

Where it is strong. Since September 2025, impact and financial risk are assessed separately, giving investors two views of each event. Evidence rules are published, including committee review and company contact before the most severe Category 4 or 5 ratings. Data is updated daily and reaches users through Bloomberg, FactSet and Snowflake.

What to consider. Coverage is limited to Sustainalytics' research universe. Ratings sit on a five-level category scale, and for higher-category events a Category Change Scenario sets out conditions for an upgrade or downgrade rather than a quantified forecast. Weighting to a client's own strategy is not described.

Compared with RepRisk: Sustainalytics adds a separate financial risk assessment and a direct link to ESG Risk Ratings; RepRisk publishes a history back to January 2007 and covers a much larger universe of companies, most of them non-listed.

Best for: institutional investors that want controversy ratings with separate impact and financial risk views, linked to Morningstar's ESG Risk Ratings.

Datamaran

Datamaran is a London-founded software company that monitors regulation, corporate disclosures and news to help large companies prioritise external issues and track regulatory change. On 3 September 2026 it rebranded, shifting its positioning from ESG issue management to enterprise governance.

Where it is strong. Regulatory depth with a published cadence: Datamaran covers 19,800+ regulations across 190+ countries, with priority jurisdictions researched on stated cycles. Its Core product supports CSRD double materiality analysis against audited peer reports.

What to consider. It is a governance and materiality workflow tool rather than an incident dataset. It does not publish a quantified external risk score or a numeric forecast, and API availability is not documented publicly.

Compared with RepRisk: Datamaran answers which regulations and issues are material to the company; RepRisk answers whether a company has been linked to misconduct.

Best for: general counsel, risk and sustainability teams in multi-jurisdiction companies that need regulatory monitoring and audit-ready materiality assessment.

SIGWATCH

SIGWATCH is a London-based specialist that tracks campaigns by NGOs and other pressure groups targeting companies and issues. It sells data, scoring and advisory reports mainly to corporate affairs, public affairs and impact teams.

Where it is strong. Specialist depth: a campaign database spanning more than 14 years, focused on who is campaigning, on what and against whom. In 2026 it launched the Pressure Score, a 0 to 100 measure built from four named components and designed to be tracked over time.

What to consider. Its focus is pressure group and activist activity rather than the wider range of external risk. The Pressure Score's calculation and weightings are not published on its website; SIGWATCH shares the methodology on request.

Compared with RepRisk: SIGWATCH tracks the campaigns that put pressure on companies, often before they become incidents; RepRisk records the reported incidents themselves. Our Polecat vs SIGWATCH comparison sets out how its focus compares with a wider view.

Best for: corporate and public affairs teams that need a detailed view of NGO and activist pressure on their company and sector.

Signal AI

Signal AI is a London-headquartered company that applies AI to licensed news, broadcast, regulatory, social and other external content. It runs a Reputation Intelligence Platform for communications teams and a Risk Intelligence Platform for risk and resilience teams.

Where it is strong. Signal AI names licensing relationships with Dow Jones Factiva, LexisNexis, Moody's NewsEdge, the Financial Times and The Washington Post. Risk Scanner, launched in June 2026, monitors a client's uploaded or suggested risk register against external content. It offers an API suite, an MCP connector and a Microsoft 365 Copilot integration.

What to consider. It is a monitoring platform rather than an ESG controversy dataset. It does not publish the scale or method behind its risk scoring, and it describes its forward view as early warning rather than forecasting.

Compared with RepRisk: Signal AI monitors broad licensed news for one organisation's communications and risk teams; RepRisk structures reported conduct incidents into comparable metrics across many companies. See our Polecat vs Signal AI comparison for detail.

Best for: risk and communications teams that want licensed premium news monitored against their existing risk register, with strong AI assistant integration.

How to choose a RepRisk alternative

If you screen portfolios, counterparties or suppliers for conduct risk, stay with a controversy dataset. RepRisk itself remains a strong choice, particularly for non-listed companies and projects. MSCI and Sustainalytics are the better choice where controversies need to sit inside an ESG ratings framework you already use. Polecat is not designed for uniform screening across an investment universe.

If you manage one organisation's risks, the question changes to how exposed you are, compared with peers, and where each risk is heading. Polecat is built for that job: the whole outside world scored against 20 years of history, weighted to your own strategy, projected 3 to 6 months ahead and traced to source evidence. Datamaran, SIGWATCH and Signal AI each answer a narrower part of the question, on regulation, NGO pressure and licensed news respectively. For a wider view, see our roundup of the best ESG controversy and reputational risk data providers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best RepRisk alternative?

It depends on who is buying. Investors who want controversy assessments inside an ESG ratings framework should look at MSCI or Morningstar Sustainalytics. Corporate risk and corporate affairs teams that need the outside world scored against 20 years of history, weighted to their own strategy and projected 3 to 6 months ahead should look at Polecat. Datamaran, SIGWATCH and Signal AI suit narrower jobs.

Is there a like-for-like replacement for RepRisk?

The closest like-for-like options are the controversy datasets of MSCI and Morningstar Sustainalytics, which also assess reported incidents for institutional investors. Each takes a different approach: MSCI scores companies by their most severe case, and Sustainalytics rates events on five categories with separate impact and financial risk assessments. RepRisk's reach into non-listed companies and projects is a particular strength to weigh.

Why do corporate teams look beyond RepRisk?

Usually because their question is different. RepRisk records reported business conduct incidents across many companies, which suits screening and due diligence. A corporate risk team asking how exposed its own organisation is, relative to peers, and where each risk is heading needs developments beyond incidents, weighting to its own taxonomy and strategy, a forward projection and delivery into its register and board reporting.

Do MSCI and Sustainalytics forecast controversy risk?

Neither publishes a numeric forecast of controversy risk. MSCI's forward elements are limited to monitoring rules and case conclusion periods. Since September 2025, Sustainalytics has set out a Category Change Scenario for its higher-category events, describing the conditions for an upgrade or downgrade. Polecat projects each risk 3 to 6 months ahead with base, best and worst case scenarios and a probability for each.

Should we replace RepRisk or add another provider?

If RepRisk serves an investment, lending or compliance team well, keep it for that job. Many organisations need a second view for a different desk. Polecat is built for the corporate risk and corporate affairs functions, so a financial institution or a large corporate can run RepRisk for screening and Polecat for its own strategic exposure without the two duplicating each other.

About Polecat

Polecat delivers Strategic External Intelligence: 20 years of measured, comparable evidence on the outside world, so risk leaders can see around corners.

The quickest way to judge it is to try the instant demo. Teams that want to see it on their own register can book the fixed-scope Risk Intelligence Audit, priced at £25K, which stands up both layers in three weeks and benchmarks the risks moving fastest against peers.

Related reading: Polecat vs RepRisk: two approaches to reputational risk data and The best ESG controversy and reputational risk data providers in 2026.