RobecoSAM, the investment specialist focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing, today announced the publication of The Sustainability Yearbook 2016. The Yearbook, which will be presented during InnoVatio Publishing’s launch of CSR Index 2016 at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, looks back at companies’ sustainability performance in 2015 and includes the best 15% per industry awarding them Gold, Silver or Bronze medals.
In addition, for each of the 59 industries analyzed, the company with the highest score is named RobecoSAM Industry Leader.
RobecoSAM has been assessing the sustainability performance of the largest listed companies on a yearly basis since 1999. 2’126 companies from 42 different countries were assessed on their performance in financially material ESG criteria for the Sustainability Yearbook 2016. The world’s most sustainable companies are located in Europe This year, RobecoSAM awarded 77 RobecoSAM Gold Class medals, 74 RobecoSAM Silver Class medals and 97 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.
ITC is the most improved industry relative to last year
Industry Relative Improvement (2014 – 2015)
1. Electronic Equipment Instruments & Components (ITC) + 6.3%
2. Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines (TRT) + 5.6%
3. Trading Companies & Distributors (TCD) + 5.4%
4. Coal & Consumable Fuels (COL) + 3.0%
5. Commercial Services & Supplies (ICS) + 2.8%
Michael Baldinger, CEO RobecoSAM, said: “We see competition for inclusion in the RobecoSAM Sustainability Yearbook steadily growing every year, so I congratulate all the companies that made it into the 2016 edition. Sustainability has come a long way since the founding of RobecoSAM in 1995. What was once a very niche concept is now becoming more mainstream, even among the investment community. For this reason, it is more important than ever that companies report on the positive financial impacts of their sustainability initiatives.”
Daniel Wild, PhD, Head of Sustainability Investing Research & Development, Member of the RobecoSAM Executive Committee: ”Since creating it 17 years ago, we have continually developed and refined the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) to reflect upcoming sustainability trends and increasing insights in the financial materiality of underlying factors. We see this evolution also taking place in the applications of the CSA data. While the goal of the CSA has always been to examine financially material factors that impact a company’s core business value drivers, the data is not only used to further sustainability goals by assessed companies, but also by investors who are increasingly integrating ESG considerations into their investment processes.”