Main Concepts

Before diving into OpenSFDR, it helps to understand the main building blocks you'll work with. This page explains each concept in plain language so you can navigate the platform with confidence.

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Users

A user is anyone who logs into OpenSFDR. When you create for the first time an account, you become a user.

Each user belongs to one organization (called a Tenant) and can:

• View and manage assets and funds based on their permissions
• Enter sustainability data
• Generate compliance reports
• Collaborate with colleagues in the same organization

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Tenants

A tenant represents your organization—the company that has a relationship with OpenSFDR.

Think of the tenant as your company's "home" in the platform. Everything your organization does in OpenSFDR lives under your tenant:

• All your team members (users)
• All the companies and properties you analyze (assets)
• All the funds and investment vehicles you manage (financial products)
• All your ESG strategies and reports

Sharing access between organizations

Tenants can share access with other tenants. This is useful when you work with external partners, advisors, or related companies that need to view or manage your data.

When you share access with another tenant, you can choose whether they can:

• View only — See your assets, funds, and reports without making changes
• Full access — View and edit everything, just like your own team members

This collaboration feature lets organizations work together while keeping clear boundaries about who owns what.

Managing user permissions

Your tenant also controls what each user can do. Admins can set permissions to ensure team members only access what they need for their role.

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Assets

An asset is anything your organization analyzes for ESG purposes. Most commonly, assets are:

• Companies — Businesses you invest in or evaluate
• Real estate — Properties in your portfolio
• Other investment types — Any entity requiring sustainability assessment

For each asset, you can:

• Track sustainability indicators and metrics
• Store company-specific data (like emissions, governance scores, or social metrics)
• Run ESG screenings and monitoring
• Generate compliance documentation

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Financial Products

A financial product is an investment vehicle—typically a fund—that holds investments in various assets.

In SFDR terms, your financial products are what you're disclosing about. Each fund needs to be classified (Article 6, 8, or 9) and requires specific sustainability disclosures.

For each financial product, you can track:

• Basic information — Legal name, LEI, currency, issuing entity
• Investments — Which assets the fund invests in and how much
• ESG strategies — Which sustainability rules apply to this fund
• Reporting periods — Generate pre-contractual and periodic disclosures

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Investments

An investment connects a financial product to an asset. It represents the fact that a fund holds a position in a particular company or property.

Each investment includes:

• The asset — Which company or property the fund invests in
• The financial product — Which fund holds this investment
• Investment size — How much is invested (and how this changes over time)
• Status — Whether the investment is active, pending, or historical

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Indicator Definitions

An indicator definition describes a specific sustainability metric you want to track—like carbon emissions, board diversity, or water usage.

Think of indicator definitions as templates. They specify:

• What you're measuring (e.g., "Scope 1 GHG Emissions")
• How it should be measured (units, calculation method)
• Where the data comes from (company-reported, estimated, etc.)

OpenSFDR comes with pre-built indicator definitions for standard SFDR requirements, but you can also create custom indicators for your specific needs.

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Indicator Strategies

An indicator strategy is a collection of rules that define how to evaluate assets against your sustainability criteria.

Strategies answer questions like:

• "Does this company meet our environmental standards?"
• "Is this investment aligned with our exclusion policy?"
• "Does this asset qualify for our Article 9 fund?"

Each strategy contains:

• Indicator representations — Which indicators to check and how to interpret them
• Requirements and rules — Conditions that must be met (e.g., "carbon intensity must be below X")
• Screening vs. monitoring settings — Whether to use for initial screening, ongoing monitoring, or both

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Strategy Groups

A strategy group bundles multiple indicator strategies together and applies them over a specific time period.

Why use strategy groups?

• Combine strategies — Apply environmental, social, and governance strategies as one package
• Time-bound application — Set when a group of strategies starts and ends
• Fund assignment — Easily assign the same set of rules to multiple funds
• Asset assignment — Apply consistent evaluation criteria across your portfolio

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How Everything Connects

Here's how these concepts work together in practice:

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Quick Reference

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What's Next?

Now that you understand the building blocks, you're ready to:

• Navigate the application — Learn your way around the interface
• Create your first fund — Set up a financial product
• Understand SFDR classifications — Learn about Article 6, 8, and 9 funds