Dow Jones Sustainability Group Indexes GmbH (DJSGI GmbH) announced the launch of the world’s first global indexes that track the performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies world-wide.
The Dow Jones Sustainability Group Indexes (DJSGI) family consists of one global and three regional (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) indexes, as well as a United States index. For each of these five geographical areas there also are four specialized indexes that exclude alcohol, gambling, tobacco and all three. Each of the these 25 DJSGI indexes is calculated in price return and total return forms in both USD and EUR, for a total of 100 indexes. The geographical and regional USD price return indexes are updated regularly on the DJSGI GmbH website (www.sustainability-index.com). The website also provides historical performance of all 100 indexes, which were backcasted to January 1, 1994. Selected from the Dow Jones Global Index of nearly 3,000 companies in 33 countries, the DJSGI includes more than 200 of the top sustainability companies in 68 industries in 22 countries.
The total market capitalization of the DJSGI is 4.3 trillion USD. The DJSGI addresses increasing investor interest in companies committed to corporate sustainability principles. These principles – innovative technology, corporate governance, shareholder relations, industrial leadership and social well being – are a catalyst for enlightened and disciplined management, a crucial factor in making investment decisions. DJSGI GmbH – the operating company of the DJSGI based in Zurich – is a partnership of Dow Jones Indexes, a leading index provider, and SAM Sustainability Group, a renowned pioneer in corporate sustainability assessment. “Corporate sustainability provides a unique investment style, and the DJSGI enables investors
to track the performance of their investments in sustainability companies. The integrity of the corporate sustainability assessment and the index calculation ensures that the DJSGI are independent, reliable and investable. These make the DJSGI an excellent platform for sustainability index-based derivatives and funds,” said David E. Moran, President, Dow Jones Indexes.
According to Reto Ringger, CEO, SAM Sustainability Group, “Private and institutional investors have warmly welcomed the launch of the DJSGI. Five financial institutions have already signed letters of intent to obtain licenses to issue products based on the DJSGI: Baloise Insurance Company (CH), Fuerst Fugger Privatbank (DE), Hypo Vereinsbank (DE), Robeco Group (NL) and Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie (DE).”