fund managersnewsletter 04/2013
1. Customers
WWF Germany to draw on oekom research's expertise
WWF Germany is seeking to make the management of the foundation’s assets more sustainable and will be drawing on oekom research’s ratings as a basis for this. In collaboration with the rating agency, WWF has drawn up stringent exclusion criteria for the management of its funds. “WWF aims to halt the global destruction of nature and the environment, preserve biodiversity, protect habitats and build a future in which man and nature can live in harmony. This is reflected in the criteria for managing the foundation’s assets,” says Sylvia Becker, WWF Germany’s Commercial Director. “oekom research has helped us to develop a sustainability filter for the investment of our assets and to set up a rigorous and sustainable investment strategy. In addition to this, WWF is delighted to have the ongoing assistance of the agency as an expert research partner.”
World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) is one of the world’s largest and most experienced nature conservation organisations and is active in more than 100 countries. It has five million supporters worldwide. WWF’s global network maintains 90 offices in more than 40 countries. Staff around the globe are currently implementing 1,300 biodiversity preservation projects.
Contact: Sylvia Becker, Commercial Director, WWF Germany, tel: +49/(0)30/311 777 866, e-mail: sylvia.becker@wwf.de
2. Global Challenges Index
Change of personnel on Global Challenges Index Advisory Board
Prof. Burkhard Küstermann joined the Global Challenges Index (GCX) Advisory Board on 1 April 2013. “We are delighted to have secured, in Prof. Küstermann, yet another recognised expert on foundations,” says Dr. Sandra Lüth, Manager of the Hanover Stock Exchange, which in collaboration with the rating agency oekom research launched the GCX. “With his long-standing experience of the needs of foundations, he will enrich the work of the Advisory Board and will further enhance the attractiveness of the GCX to investors.”
During the first half of this year, Prof. Küstermann will be taking over from Dr. Hermann Falk as Deputy Secretary General of the Association of German Foundations. As head of the Community Foundation Initiative, he is already a member of the Association’s management team. This change means that Prof. Küstermann will also be replacing Dr. Falk on the GCX Advisory Board. Dr. Falk left the Association of German Foundations’ management team in February.
More information can be found at:
www.gcindex.com/en
3. Market
Sustainable investments: impressive market growth in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
The 
growth trend in sustainable investments continued unabated in 2012. According to the Sustainable Investment Market Report published by Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen (FNG) in Berlin on 13 May 2013, Germany, Austria and Switzerland all recorded strong growth. In 2012, the total volume of sustainable investments in these three countries came to 120.3 billion euros. This figure is 16 per cent higher than that for the previous year.
The most popular sustainable investment strategy in all three countries is the use of exclusion criteria such as weapons or nuclear power. In Germany and Switzerland, the best-in-class approach ranks second in terms of popularity. In Austria, on the other hand, second place goes to screening for compliance with specific international standards or norms such as those of the Global Compact or the International Labour Organisation’s core labour standards.
Claudia Tober, FNG’s Executive Director, points to the growing importance of institutional investors. “In all three countries, this market segment saw growth compared with the previous year, with institutional investors most prominent in Austria (81 per cent), followed by Germany (77 per cent) and then Switzerland (54 per cent),” explains Tober. “The financial players in all three countries also see this group as being the main driver of future market growth, whereas private investors are seen as playing a less crucial role,” adds Tober, who is also Vice-President of Eurosif.
More information can be found at:
www.forum-ng.org/en/fng/activities/230-marktbericht-nachhaltige-geldanlagen-2013-deutschland-oesterreich-schweiz.html
Ongoing strong growth in the French SRI market
The French SRI research institution Novethic has published its yearly numbers on the French market for responsible investments in early April 2013. With a total investment volume of 150 billion euros, a new peak has been reached at the end of 2012. Even if the annual growth rate of 29 per cent was not as impressive as last year’s (+69 per cent), the French SRI market remains a very dynamic one. In total, the overall SRI market volume has tripled since 2009.
The increase of investments is due, on the one hand, to transformations of existing conventional products, and on the other hand to the integration of ESG criteria in mandates of large institutional investors, especially pension funds and insurances. Private insurance companies were particularly active last year in fostering responsible investments. Institutional investors make up for 72 per cent of the French SRI market, whereas the remaining 28 per cent are invested by private investors.
More information on this study “Le marché de l’ISR en France 2012” can be found at:
www.novethic.fr
4. Studies/Publications
German Sustainability Code: some successes, but improvements still needed
The German Sustainability Code provides guidance and recognition for companies but is still used only infrequently and hesitantly by financial service providers in their evaluations of companies on the capital market. This was one of the findings of a Hamburg University research group led by Prof. Alexander Bassen in a study commissioned by the German Council for Sustainable Development. It analysed the implementation and effectiveness of the German Sustainability Code. The survey covered 70 companies, 163 players on the capital market (predominantly the mainstream capital market) and 35 representatives of NGOs.
The German Council for Sustainable Development adopted the Sustainability Code in October 2011 and recommended it for use as a voluntary instrument. The Code, which is aimed at companies, pools information on their sustainability performance in a transparent and comparable form in a Declaration of Conformity. This makes is possible for the public and financial market players to assess how companies embed sustainability in their core business. So far, 43 companies have signed up to the Code.
More information (in German) can be found at:
www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de/presseinformationen/pressemitteilungen/dnk-zwischenbilanz-26-03-2013
5. Events
UNEP FI Global Roundtable 2013
The UNEP FI Global Roundtable is an event that brings together representatives from financial institutions, governments, regulators, civil society, academia and the scientific community to galvanize action on sustainable finance. This year’s event takes place from 12 to 13 November 2013 in Beijing, China.
Further information can be found at:
http://unepfi.org/grt/2013
newsletter
