Why should investors care about sustainability?
Development without regard for people and the planet may compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
As such, investors that aim to deliver long-term returns for their shareholders cannot ignore sustainability, as environmental, economic, governance and social factors may impact company profitability.
The United Nations Brundtland Commission defines sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Many use sustainability and climate change interchangeably. Though it is true that climate change is a vital part of sustainability, sustainability encompasses more than this and cannot be exclusively defined from an environmental perspective. This is why we consider Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors in our investments.
How can ESG support financial returns?
ESG assessments are an integral part of investment decisions in DNB Asset Management. Our current holdings comprise more than 2,500 companies and our Standard for Responsible Investments is maintained across all of these investments.
Sustainability is high on the DNB Group’s agenda.
Sustainability is also high on the DNB Group’s agenda. As an asset manager, our job is to generate returns for our clients. We do this whilst also ensuring that investments are sustainable and responsible. We believe that these are not mutually exclusive, as we believe that sustainable companies will perform better financially in the long term.
We are seeing increasing demand for responsible and sustainable products from both the retail and institutional segments. We believe that everyone that invests in our funds should be reassured that we consider both financial and ESG risks and opportunities in all that we do.
