Corporate reputation supports investor confidence to the extent that it is adding £790 billion of shareholder value across the FTSE 350, 36% of the total market capitalization, according to the latest study from Reputation Dividend.

The 2016 UK Reputation Dividend Report, the ninth annual study, found that Unilever has the most economically impactful reputation, with important gains see at Shell and Reckitt Benckiser, in second and third places respectively. Pharmaceutical company Shire joins top 10 for first time.

The study shows how reputation value is created when recognised strengths and qualities of individual companies coincide with investor interest. The single most valuable component of corporate reputations this year is the impression of “financial soundness” followed by the ability to “attract, develop and retain talent” and “quality of leadership.”

The economic impact of “corporate responsibility” grew more than any of the other headline factors tracked, and positive perceptions are now boosting investor confidence to create £53 billion of shareholder value.

“After misplaced optimism in the markets last year, all signs point to the fact that reputation played a substantial part in softening the impact of uncertainty, mitigating downward pressure on share prices and stemming otherwise larger falls in the indices in the latter half of the year,” says Reputation Dividend founder Simon Cole. “Indeed, without the up-ticks in reputation impact, we calculate that the lead index could have ended the year as much as 10% lower and the secondary index down by nearly 7%”

Adds Reputation Divided director Sandra Macleod, “The winners over the next 12 months will be those companies that focus on the operational and messaging priorities which support continued confidence through turbulent times. Reputation may be intangible but it has a very tangible value.”