Deutsche Bourse has launched two new indices in cooperation with Bank Sarasin.
DAXglobal Sarasin Sustainability Germany Index tracks the performance of companies with sustainable performance registered in Germany, while DAXglobal Sarasin Sustainability Switzerland Index tracks Swiss companies with sustainable performance. The index for Germany currently comprises 34 companies; the Swiss index 27.
The German index comprises the 100 largest companies based on free-float market capitalization, while the Swiss index is based on the 50 largest companies in terms of market capitalization. Shares will only be considered if they have generated an average daily trading volume of at least 1 million euros or Swiss francs in the last six months.
In a second step, these companies will be examined for their sustainability, and valuated by Bank Sarasin.
The Sarasin Sustainability matrix, which combines an industry rating and a company rating, will serve as the basis. It not only considers the direct impacts of production of products and services, but also all indirect influences from producing commodities through preliminary products down to consumption.
Only those shares which meet the sustainability criteria qualify for inclusion. The composition of the index will be annually reviewed in July, with shares equally weighted on a quarterly basis.
Both indices are calculated in euros; the index for Switzerland is also calculated in Swiss francs. To maintain neutrality, Deutsche Bourse AG is not included in the German index.
“In expanding our DAXglobal family, we have, for the first time, integrated the well-known Sarasin sustainability research into strictly rule-based and transparent indices, giving investors opportunities to invest in sustainable companies,” says Dr. Hartmut Graf, head of Data and Analytics at Deutsche Bourse.