– A compass for investors looking to scout out companies across all industries that have a competitive edge based on corporate sustainability criteria
– RobecoSAM celebrates its 20th anniversary and proudly announces: “We are Sustainability Investing.”
RobecoSAM, the investment specialist focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing, has announced the publication of The Sustainability Yearbook 2015.
The Yearbook looks back at companies’ sustainability performance in 2014, includes the best 15% per industry and ranks them Gold, Silver or Bronze. The top performing company from each of the 59 industries analyzed is awarded RobecoSAM Industry Leader status.
In total RobecoSAM has awarded 69 RobecoSAM Gold Class medals, 54 RobecoSAM Silver Class medals and 112 RobecoSAM Bronze Class medals to the evaluated companies. Split by region, Europe holds the greatest number of companies included in the Yearbook as well as the most RobecoSAM Gold Class medal winners.
|
Region |
Companies Included |
Gold Medal Companies |
| Europe |
211 |
33 |
| Asia Pacific |
99 |
16 |
| North America |
93 |
11 |
| Emerging Markets |
54 |
9 |
Impressive coverage in terms of market capitalization per region
Since 1999, RobecoSAM has been assessing the sustainability performance of the largest listed companies on a yearly basis. 830 companies from 42 different countries participated in the latest RobecoSAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) and reported on their performance in financially material ESG criteria. Over the years the participation rate has on average steadily grown by 7% annually. With a total of 1,995 assessed companies, this year’s CSA provides a record 87% coverage rate of the total global Yearbook universe market capitalization. In Europe the coverage rate was 92%, in North America 90%, in Asia Pacific 88%, and in the Emerging Markets 61%.
Michael Baldinger, CEO RobecoSAM, said: “I congratulate all the Yearbook members, especially the Industry Leaders and Gold medalists. These companies excel in financially material ESG factors. The Sustainability Yearbook is a compass for investors looking for companies across all industries with a competitive edge – based on corporate sustainability criteria. This year’s edition of the Yearbook is the culmination of two decades’ worth of rigorous investment research, focus and dedication. RobecoSAM has shaped the Sustainability Investing landscape over the past 20 years. That’s why we now state: We are Sustainability Investing.”
Daniel Wild, PhD, Head of Sustainability Investing Research & Development, Member of the RobecoSAM Executive Committee: ”RobecoSAM’s annual CSA focuses on examining financially material factors that impact a company’s core business value drivers. Factors such as a company’s tax strategy, ability to innovate, attract and retain talent or increase resource efficiency matter from an investor’s point of view because they impact a company’s competitive position and long-term financial performance. New aspects arise each day; this is why we constantly develop the CSA further.”
10 interesting facts about the 2014 Corporate Sustainability Assessment
- Companies improved how they address sustainability issues by 0.4% over last year’s results
- Industry that made the biggest step forward: Commercial Services & Supplies (+9.73%)
- Industry with the highest participation rate: Household Products (53%)
- Region with the best Corporate Governance Performance: North America
- Region with the highest participation rate of companies actively participating in the CSA: Europe
- Most improved general criteria in the economic dimension: Supply Chain Management
- Most improved general criteria in the environmental dimension: Climate Strategy
- Most improved general criteria in the social dimension: Talent Attraction & Retention
- Number of data points collected in 2014: 1.4 million (+11%)
- Number of documents processed in 2014: 93,000 (+ 4%)
Every year RobecoSAM picks out the most prominent sustainability topics and shares its expertise through white papers in the prelude to the Sustainability Yearbook.
20 years RobecoSAM – We are Sustainability Investing.
2015 marks a special milestone in the history of RobecoSAM: The firm celebrates its 20thanniversary. Over the past 20 years RobecoSAM has focused exclusively on, shaped, and pioneered the field of Sustainability Investing. RobecoSAM continuously explores financially material ESG factors and their integration and provides resource efficiency investment strategies in listed and non-listed equities. RobecoSAM’s history, conviction and DNA support the new claim: “We are Sustainability Investing.”
This article was taken from here.