It is important to us to be able to stand behind the investments we make. In order to take social and environmental values into account, we use Screened ETFs for equity investments outside Switzerland in all our findependent investment solutions.

The principle

ESG stands for “Environmental”, “Social” and “Governance”. Companies from certain controversial sectors are excluded from an Screened Index. These companies are therefore not included in the Screened ETFs used by our investment solutions, which track these indices. In total, around 10% of companies are excluded by the screening process.

In the area of the environment, these are, for example, those from the nuclear power sector or, in the area of society, the tobacco industry. And in terms of corporate governance, all companies in the Screened ETFs must adhere to the UN Global Compact. This pact was concluded to make globalisation more social and ecological.

• Learn more about MSCI’s Screened Indices

• Learn more about our Screened ETFs from BlackRock

• Learn more about the UN Global Compact

The criteria

Whether or not a company from a controversial sector is excluded from an Screened Index or ETF is determined on the basis of clearly defined and measurable criteria.

For the tobacco industry, for example:

• All companies that are classified as “producers”.

• All companies that generate 5% or more of their total turnover from the production, distribution, retail and supply of tobacco products.

> Read all the exact criteria here