Top global firms booted out of sustainability index

Latest indices from sustainable investment specialist SAM and Dow Jones have excluded market leading firms UniCredit bank, Toyota Motors and Royal Dutch Shell, following an annual review of companies' SRI performances.

FTSE 350

Prev Close:

by Atholl Simpson on Sep 09, 2010 at 10:35

Sustainable investment boutique SAM has excluded market leading firms such as UniCredit bank and Toyota Motors from the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) following an annual review of their SRI performance.

The Zurich-based firm conducted its largest ever global analysis of corporate sustainability adherence and deleted a total of 46 firms from the sustainable investing index. The Royal Dutch Shell group was another notable casualty of the annual review.

Among the 48 new entries to the index are Standard Chartered, Morgan Stanley and leading steel producer ArcelorMittal. The DJSI World now includes a total of 318 firms.

The index follow a best-in-class approach and includes sustainability leaders from each industry on a global and regional level respectively. According to SAM, the annual review is based on a thorough analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, branding, climate change mitigation, supply chain standards and labour practices.

The review also resulted in 27 firms being added to the European Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index, while 19 were deleted. All changes will become effective with the opening of equity markets on September 20, 2010.

The process also identified the top company for each of the main sectors and among the big names leading the way in SRI terms are Air-France-KLM for travel and leisure, Nokia in technology and Unilever in food and beverages.

Email a friend

Email me when someone comments on this article Print

5 comments so far. Why not have your say?

Perhaps someone could explain how we get to read this info.

report this

Hello Andrew,

Thank you for your inquiry. The information regarding the DJSI World index, as well as the other Dow Jones sustainability indices, can be found on their website.

http://www.sustainability-index.com/

All the best

Atholl

report this

Will someone please define "corporate sustainability". Does it, for example, imply a likely sustainable dividend stream, or are they talking about sustaining the planet - and what criteria do they use? Atholi: I have checked the website you suggest and I am still not clear.

report this

The term 'corporate sustainability' is defined as follows.

'A business approach that creates long-term shareholder value by embracing opportunities and managing risks deriving from economic, environmental and social developments.

'Corporate sustainability leaders achieve long-term shareholder value by gearing their strategies and management to harness the market's potential for sustainability products and services while at the same time successfully reducing and avoiding sustainability costs and risks.'

The idea behind it has more to do with responsible investing solutions and companies ensuring their investments do not negatively affect long-term social and environmental targets.

Hope that answers your question.

Atholl

report this

andrew barlow

Sep 12, 2010 at 13:30

thankyou Atholl, very usefull

report this

Please sign in here or register here to comment. It is free to register and only takes a minute or two.