SUSTAINABILITY IN THE INVESTMENT PROCESS
The demand for ethical, social and ecological investments is increasing and it is a need of the financial participants, to integrate these criterias into the investment and controlling process.
A large number of private as well as institutional investors consistently focus on ethical, social and ecological investments. This includes, for example:
• Norwegian sovereign wealth fund
(exclusion of tobacco and armament)
• Swiss Re (consideration of ESG-criterias)
• SNB (no producers of outlawed weapons)
• WWF Switzerland (consideration of ESG-criterias)
• Publica (excercise of shareholders rights, ESG-criterias)
The worldwide sales figures confirm, that there is an increasing demand for sustainably produced products and services. Moreover, many countries are subsidizing sustainable alternatives whereas resource-intensive production processes are increasingly regulated. Sustainable investments are considered as innovative and enjoy a good reputation with a corresponding positive image for the investor.
There is an absence of international binding guidelines and standards by the regulators. As a result, the heterogeneity of the criterias and their scope for interpretation is high. The consideration of sustainable factors in the investment and controlling processes requires therefore a high degree of expertise.
Incentives and challenges