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- All submitted sustainable funds of Erste Asset Management awarded top marks by the association for sustainable investments Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen (FNG)
- Total amount of sustainable investments in Austria increased by 29% in 2020 compared to the previous year and reached a new record volume at the end of 2020
All submitted sustainable investment funds of Austrian fund company Erste Asset Management (Erste AM) were awarded the highest possible FNG Siegel – the quality standard for sustainable investment funds in German-speaking countries – today. The Forum for Sustainable Investments e.V. (FNG) is the professional association for sustainable investments in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
According to the FNG, the total amount of money invested in Austria, taking into account strict environmental, social and responsible corporate governance (ESG)-related criteria, increased by 29 percent in 2020, reaching a new record volume of 38.9 billion euros at the end of 2020. Sustainable investment funds in particular saw significant inflows, with a volume of EUR 21.2 billion, up around 44 percent year-on-year.
“Positive change is possible. With every additional investor who opts for a sustainable investment fund, the pressure on companies to take sustainable criteria into account in their corporate orientation increases. Here we have been able to demonstrate countless successes in the past and are also very positive for the future,” emphasizes Walter Hatak, Head of Sustainability at Erste Asset Management.
281 funds in German-speaking countries checked through their paces
The FNG seal, which is awarded for the 6th time this year, is the quality standard for sustainable investment funds in German-speaking countries. The holistic methodology of the FNG seal is based on a combination of ESG standards and several transparency criteria as well as the consideration of labor & human rights, environmental protection or anti-corruption.
281 funds applied for the SRI quality standard FNG Seal. This is 60 percent more than last year and 7 times more since the label was launched in 2015. The number of fund houses applying increased from 73 to 102, and these come from 14 countries.
“ESG is not done yet. After all, that would mean that the climate crisis has been defeated and corporate social ills have been eliminated. We are working every day to achieve this goal, but it will still take some time. The recent award where we received the highest score for all funds submitted (15 in total) confirms that we are on the right track and take our responsibility as an Austrian sustainability pioneer very seriously,” Hatak continues.
Market leader in Austria: more than 14 billion euros in sustainable funds
With a sustainably invested volume of more than EUR 14 billion (as of 31.10.2021), in a total of 50 sustainable mutual funds and several special funds of a broad expertise, Erste AM is the market leader and pioneer in the sustainability sector in Austria: already in 2001, the first environmental equity fund was launched, which has been managed in cooperation with WWF Austria since 2006. In 2009, Erste AM was the first fund company in Austria to sign the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI).
Since 2012, the fund company has refrained from investing in outlawed weapons, excluded food speculation in all mutual funds in 2013 and has excluded investments in coal mining since 2016. In addition, the fund company decided back in 2015 to sign the Montréal Carbon Pledge agreement. Erste AM thus undertakes to measure and publish the carbon footprint of its portfolios on an annual basis.
Read all about greenwashing and sustainable investing in our new ESGenius newsletter:
https://blog.en.erste-am.com/dossier/greenwashing/
AWARDED ERSTE AM-FUNDS
The FNG (Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen e.V.), the professional association for sustainable investments in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, represents over 220 members who are committed to more sustainability in the financial industry. www.forum-ng.org   Â
The FNG Seal is the quality standard for sustainable investment funds in German-speaking countries.
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Prognoses are no reliable indicator for future performance.