Linking a foundation's purpose to the investment activity
June 2019

Everything a foundation does belongs together - its funding activities and asset management. Particularly in the low-interest environment, it becomes relevant for foundations to deal with the impact of their assets.

For a long time, the discussion of sustainability was placed under the voluntary category. One often heard the statement: The topic is important, but according to my current fiduciary duties it is not possible to implement it. What can be done if voluntary action leads to appropriate regulations? Would it at best have been better to deal with this in advance?

In March 2018, the EU Commission announced the Sustainable Finance Action Plan. Recently it was achieved that meanwhile many institutional investors and financial service providers are forced to deal intensively with the topic of ESG in capital investments and financial products. The EU is planning many measures and in the future, the consultation of sustainability preferences will also be mandatory in financial advisory services and thus in the sale of investment funds. The legal expansion of MiFID II and IDD is expected as early as the end of 2020. By clarifying the fiduciary obligations, the EU aims at more disclosure by investors in the investment process and in financial products. In particular, the disclosure of ESG ratings and the climate footprint will gain importance. The directive on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision (EbAV II), which has been in force since the beginning of the year, affects the VAG-regulated occupational pension funds. The speed is increasing on the part of the EU and every market participant should prepare well.

yourSRI - the online investor information platform for ESG & climate assessments has addressed this issue. yourSRI is now available in 14 countries in Europe. Investment funds & ETFs can be accessed via Smartphone at the push of a button free of charge with regard to your ESG and Climate Investment Assessment. For foundations, this means "GIVE YOUR EFFECT OF ASSETS A FACE" and visit yourSRI local pages!

To independently compare and in order to efficiently score those mutual funds, the powerful “ESG Analytics Tool” of yourSRI.com has been used.

The key facts:

• ESG-Risk: 80% of all screened funds are rated "A" or higher. The average ESG-score across all categories is above 6.0
• Value: UN-Global Compact compliance improved. Only a small part (1%) of their portfolio holdings is non-compliant.
• Impact: Equity funds - over 50% of equity funds have a significant impact. Mixed and bonds - the majority of funds have an average or low impact. In the case of bonds, 40% are even at an insignificant level.

Together with our partners we endeavour to promote and raise awareness concerning trends and issues in the field of responsible investing, aiming for greater transparency, comparability and measurability. And that's exactly the aim of this publication.

 To access or download a .pdf-version of this document, please click here (4 MB) for German.
 If you would like to rate and know the social and environmental quality of your portfolio, feel free to use your complimentary Portfolio Quick-Check.
 if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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