Financial Materiality workshop May 2026

Maxwell Data was pleased to host an industry workshop on financial materiality for sustainability with Dept of Mathematics at Brunel, University of London. The purpose of the discussion was to find a data-driven way forward for financial materiality.

Under Chatham House rules, we brought together reporters, auditors, investor, regulators and advisors. We agreed that the standard approach to materiality assessment is slow, expensive, subjective and non-predictive. Not least, this is holding back more effective capital allocation towards UK's 2050 Net Zero commitments.

I was really pleased with the vibrant debate and insightful opinions, It's clear that we have struck a rich seam with this topic. The next steps to translate this momentum into action are:

1. Research collaboration

Taking a data-driven approach, we think there are three main research questions to answer:

1.1 Finding signal in the noise. Validating an open-sourced intelligence approach to financial materiality assessment in sustainability reporting and assurance.

1.2 From description to prediction. How investors can use dynamic sustainability risks/opportunities metrics to better inform their capital allocation.

1.3 Upstream materiality in the supply chain for global firms. Identifying what SMEs need to report for their main customers.

2. Stakeholders' buy in

Prof Paresh Date (Brunel) and Prof Steve Yoo (UCL) have kindly agreed to lead the research using data from Maxwell. But we need feedback, guidance, and financial support to make this happen.

Can your organisation contribute? Please use the Contact Us section to get in touch.

3. In practice workshop

We would like to gather again in September at the UCL School of Management, Canary Wharf in London. Ideally, we will bring together about 50 people, work in the three research streams, come together to show early results from live use cases.

If you would like to attend, use the Contact Us section to sign up. More details closer to the time.