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ESG-Screening at DJE 

Our clients’ needs and interests are at the heart of our business as an asset manager. We believe that taking sustainability criteria into account should be a fundamental component in all investment decisions. A failure to consider ecological ("E" for environmental) and social factors ("S" for social) as well as good corporate governance ("G" for governance) can entail significant risks. 

DJE adheres to its own exclusion criteria and seeks to avoid or reduce adverse impacts from a sustainability perspective. We also take certain sustainable development goals into account in our asset allocation. We have been a signatory to the United Nations "Principles for Responsible Investment" since 2018 and work with MSCI ESG Research for analysis purposes. We also engage with corporate decision-makers on a regular basis and take advantage of voting rights.

Sustainability criteria are integrated into the investment process

Exclusion criteria

As a first step when selecting individual stocks for client portfolios, we exclude various business sectors and avoid companies that violate certain principles.  

These include companies that: 

• Violate the UN Global Compact, a global agreement between the United Nations and companies to respect human rights, labour standards, environmental principles and to fight corruption. 
• Produce biological and chemical weapons, landmines, nuclear weapons, cluster bombs or uranium munitions. 
• Generate >5% turnover with conventional weapons. 
• Generate >30% turnover from thermal coal. 
• Generate >5% turnover from tobacco. 
• Violate environmental criteria or cause controversy according to MSCI ESG Research. 
   
   

In addition, we exclude government bonds whose issuers have a poor rating according to the Freedom House Index or according to World Bank indicators.  

These include the degree of democracy and freedom, the right of citizens to participate in politics, political stability, and the accountability and performance of governments. 

Solid data

We base our investment decisions on a wide range of reliable data and carry out our own analysis. We work with MSCI ESG Research, a leading provider of analyses and ratings for environmental and social issues as well as corporate governance. Companies are screened for, among other things, CO2 emissions relative to sales, land and raw material consumption, water quality, biodiversity, ESG potential, strengths and weaknesses, controversies and corruption. MSCI ESG Ratings are available for more than 600,000 securities worldwide. 

Adverse sustainability impacts 

An essential part of the sustainable yield analysis consists of measuring 18 indicators: the so-called PAIs ("Principal Adverse Impacts"), also referred to as "adverse sustainability impacts". 16 of the PAIs concern companies and two PAIs concern government bonds. They can be divided into the following categories: 

• Greenhouse gas emissions 
• Biodiversity 
• Water 
• Waste 
• Social issues and employment

Sustainable development goals

In addition, we focus on four selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Here we examine the extent to which a company contributes positively to one of the following goals and at the same time does not harm any of the other goals: 

• gender equality (SDG 5)
• decent work and economic growth (SDG 8)
• sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
• climate action (SDG 13)
• engagement and voice

Engagement and voting rights

On average, we engage in over 500 conversations with corporate decision-makers each year. These conversations are also about sustainability and risks. In addition, we, as the DJE Investment S.A., exercise our voting rights as a shareholder and investor regarding ESG concerns. We work together with IVOX Glass Lewis for this purpose. This partner advises us on how to exercise our voting rights as responsibly as possible

Fund selection

We apply our high standards regarding sustainability criteria when selecting individual stocks or other financial instruments. In order to ensure broad diversification in our portfolios, we may also use funds[1] from DJE and third-party providers or ETC[2] in our asset management activities.  

We cannot influence the selection of individual securities in the funds of third-party providers. Nevertheless, we strive to adhere to minimum standards in fund selection as well: 

You can find out more about our sustainability policy here:

• Sustainability policy
• Sustainability in the financial product Managed Depots
• Sustainability in the financial product Individual Asset Management
• Sustainability with the Solidvest financial product

[1] The term "funds" refers to actively and passively managed exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

[2] ETC = a single exchange-traded commodity