Three perspectives from three experts: Part 2: Why sustainability is so natural for us
In the second part of our series "Personal Insights", DNB experts Knut Hellandsvik, Svein Aage Anes and Janicke Scheele discuss what makes DNB Asset Management different from other asset managers in the US or Europe. They address what central role sustainability will play in the coming decades and how DNB is contributing to this.
Svein Aage Aanes, Head of Fixed Income
Although we have a strong global fixed income business, we are primarily focused on our local, Nordic markets, where we have a significant market share. We believe that we have a clear competitive advantage through long-term interaction with issuers and counterparties in the Norwegian and Nordic region. The Nordic fixed income markets have grown substantially over the past 10 years, both in terms of investment quality and high yield - and they now offer investors well-diversified financial centers with many opportunities to outperform. At the same time, the Nordic fixed income markets are somewhat less thoroughly analyzed, so we believe that there is an opportunity to create an information advantage for specialized asset managers.
DNB Asset Management takes a very active role in sustainability work. ESG is integrated into our portfolio management for all products and asset classes. We also offer a wide range of impact and enhanced ESG products. As Nordic companies are analysed in less detail than their major counterparts in the US and Europe, the ESG ratings from MSCI and/or Sustainalytics are lower for Norwegian and Nordic companies respectively. Therefore, we have decided to launch an internal program for company valuation. For this project we sent targeted sector-specific questionnaires to banks, utilities and real estate companies. We use the resulting assessments in the overall risk assessment of the specific companies and also as input for the dialog with individual banks and companies. In this manner, we work to improve transparency in ESG reporting and also support companies in improving their ESG policy as well as their ESG work in the dialog and in making clear the requirements we place on issuers in this regard.
Janicke Scheele, Head of Responsible Investments
The Scandinavian region has a long history of integrating corporate responsibility into society. DNB Asset Management has systematically worked with responsible investments for decades. In general, companies in the Nordics have a higher ESG score and have long had a strong focus on innovation, culture and integration of sustainability. At a global level, the Nordic countries have a society with a high degree of confidence in the various actors.
