LONDON and NEW YORK and ZURICH, Sept. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI), one of the world's leading index providers, and RobecoSAM, an investment specialist focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing (SI), today announced the results of the annual Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) review.

The three largest additions and deletions (by free-float market capitalization) to the DJSI World this year include:

Additions: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., British American Tobacco p.l.c., ASML Holding N.V.  
Deletions: Enbridge Inc.¹, Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, Rio Tinto plc ²

The new component lists for the DJSI will be published on the RobecoSAM website on Monday, September 11, 2017. All changes are effective on Monday, September 18, 2017.

Launched in 1999, the DJSI World represents the gold standard for corporate sustainability and is the first global index to track the leading sustainability-driven companies based on RobecoSAM's analysis of financially material Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors and S&P DJI's robust index methodology. Every year, RobecoSAM assesses the world's largest companies via its Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), which uses a consistent, rules-based methodology to convert an average of 600 data points per company into one overall score. This score determines inclusion in the DJSI.

Manjit Jus, Head of Sustainability Application & Operations, RobecoSAM: "Being a pioneer and thought leader in Sustainability Investing for over 20 years, we understand the right questions to ask in our CSA in terms of financially material sustainability aspects within the corporate world. This is what firms appreciate about the CSA. It brings them a big step ahead in terms of Corporate Sustainability and with this – a big step ahead of their competitors – getting a coveted spot in the DJSI makes sure they continue to play in the premier league of companies."

David Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee, S&P Dow Jones Indices: "Many of the events witnessed so far in 2017 make it even more important for corporations around the globe to recognize sustainability, establish policies and manage their businesses in ways that support and increase sustainability of the global environment and the world's leading businesses. The DJSI family provide a tool for investors to create asset allocations that can further sustainability."

Ahead of the Curve
RobecoSAM prides itself on the development of leading ESG assessment criteria to achieve deeper insights into companies' sustainability practices. Tax Strategy and Materiality criteria were, for example, added to the CSA in 2014 and 2016, respectively, anticipating investors' growing interest in them.

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¹ Still member of DJSI North America
² Still member of DJSI Europe

This year, RobecoSAM's CSA assessed Policy Influence for the first time to learn more about companies' lobbying activities, and expanded the Impact Measurement & Valuation criteria to nearly all industries. Preliminary analysis of the CSA data set for these criteria reveals:

Companies spend on policy influence
RobecoSAM perceives Policy Influence as a material issue for investors that deserves more attention from ESG and investment analysts. In situations where the revenues of public companies are larger than the GDPs of the countries in which they operate these companies may exert tremendous influence over the local political and legislative process. This creates risks and opportunities which are critical inputs into investment decisions.

Analysis of the CSA dataset reveals that companies in the DJSI assessment universe spend an average of 0.02% of total sales annually on policy influence activities (median spending is 0.01% of total sales). Another observation is that companies are hesitant to report on Policy Influence spend that goes beyond legal obligation.

Companies face difficulty assessing financial impacts
In light of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as set by the United Nations Development Programme in 2016, companies, governments and investors alike want to understand both the positive and negative externalities inherent in companies' business models and how their products, services and operations contribute to, or detract from, the achievement of the SDGs.

Analysis of the CSA data set shows that while the vast majority (70%) of companies are aware of the need to understand these types of environmental and social profits and losses, less than 10% of companies actually have a viable valuation approach in place today that provides detailed insights into these potential financial impacts.

For additional information on the DJSI and the changes to its components' numbers, please visit: RobecoSAM's DJSI review page and www.spindices.com/index-family/esg/djsi.

For further methodology information, please visit the CSA Resource Center, where you can find criteria weightings, 2017 criteria changes, Measuring Intangibles brochure, key facts, participation benefits, CSA Companion and more.

For more detailed information on the major methodology changes and observations on the CSA results, download our Annual Methodology & Scoring Review or register for one of our upcoming webcasts.

For more information about RobecoSAM, please visit www.robecosam.com.

For more information about S&P Dow Jones Indices, please visit www.spdji.com. 

ABOUT S&P DOW JONES INDICES

S&P Dow Jones Indices is the largest global resource for essential index-based concepts, data and research, and home to iconic financial market indicators, such as the S&P 500^® and the Dow Jones Industrial Average^®. More assets are invested in products based on our indices than products based on indices from any other provider in the world. Since Charles Dow invented the first index in 1884, S&P DJI has become home to over 1,000,000 indices across the spectrum of asset classes that have helped define the way investors measure and trade the markets. 

S&P Dow Jones Indices is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), which provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies, and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.spdji.com.

ABOUT RobecoSAM

Founded in 1995, RobecoSAM is an investment specialist focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing. It offers asset management, indices, impact analysis and investing, sustainability assessments, and benchmarking services. The company's asset management capabilities cater to institutional asset owners and financial intermediaries and cover a range of ESG-integrated investments, featuring a strong track record in resource efficiency-themed strategies. Together with S&P Dow Jones Indices, RobecoSAM publishes the globally recognized Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) as well as the S&P ESG Factor Weighted Index series, the first index family to treat ESG as a standalone performance factor using the RobecoSAM Smart ESG methodology. Based on its Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), an annual ESG analysis of over 3,900 listed companies, RobecoSAM has compiled one of the world's most comprehensive databases of financially material sustainability information. The CSA data is also included in USD 104 billion of assets under management by the subsidiaries of the Robeco Group.

RobecoSAM is a sister company of Robeco, the Dutch investment management firm founded in 1929. Both entities are subsidiaries of the Robeco Group, whose shareholder is ORIX Corporation. As a reflection of its own commitment to advancing sustainable investment practices, RobecoSAM is a signatory of the PRI and UN Global Compact, a member of Eurosif, Swiss Sustainable Finance, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition (PDC). As of June 30, 2017, RobecoSAM had client assets under management, advice and/or license of approximately USD 19.3 billion.

Important legal information:
S&P^® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P"), a division of S&P Global, Inc. Dow Jones^® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC ("Dow Jones"). These trademarks have been licensed to S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC ("S&P DJI), a division of S&P Global, Inc. The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS^®) was developed by, and is the exclusive property and a trademark of, S&P and MSCI Inc. RobecoSAM is a registered trademark of Robeco Groep N.V.

The details given on these pages do not constitute an offer. They are given for information purposes only. No liability is assumed for the correctness and accuracy of the details given. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. S&P DJI, Dow Jones, S&P and their respective affiliates do not sponsor, endorse, sell or promote any investment fund or other investment product that is offered by third parties and that seeks to provide an investment return based on the performance of any index. S&P DJI does not make investment recommendations, and inclusion of a security within an index, and CSA results, are not recommendations by S&P DJI for the purchase or sale of any security or other asset or to pursue any investment strategy. This document is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer of services in jurisdictions where S&P DJI does not have the necessary licenses. S&P DJI receives compensation for licensing its indices to third parties.

The securities identified and described may or may not be purchased, sold or recommended for advisory clients of RobecoSAM. It should not be assumed that an investment in these securities was or will be profitable. Copyright^© 2017 RobecoSAM – all rights reserved.

SOURCE S&P Dow Jones Indices