GOE Reports

Who invests in SRI products? GOE analyzed the influence of attitudes and of the individual situation like income, education, profession, etc. on the willingness to invest in SRI products and on the real investments in SRI products. On the products side we focused on SRI funds, shares and bonds and on banks that only do business with a socially responsible background.

Based on a survey of 166 potential clients of SRI products we found that a majority of the respondents knows SRI products. Most participants were willing to invest in SRI funds and SRI shares and bonds.

The results of the survey were introduced in a model that explains the influences of different factors on the SRI investment. The model shows that knowledge about SRI products and attitudes towards sustainable development influences investments in about the same manner as personal factors like income, sex, profession, etc.

Thus we concluded that a significant increase of the sales of SRI products can be influenced on the one hand by an increase of the publicity of those products in the group of the younger clients and on the other hand by an increase of attractiveness of SRI products for “mainstream investors”. Furthermore the study shows that an analysis of (potential) clients based on respective methods can result in a high benefit for the suppliers of SRI products.

O. Weber & T. Köllner (2006)
GOE
English, 21 Pages (PDF)
CHF 102 / EUR 65
Order

Sustainable investments have become increasingly common in recent last years. By reporting their environmental, social and sustainability performance, companies want to present themselves as good corporate citizens and thus to attract investors. However, do sustainability reports really show a fair picture of firms´ sustainability work and its outcomes for both sustainable development and financial success? In this study, a sample of 100 companies was analyzed with respect to i) the relation between their environmental, social and sustainability activities and their impact on the environment, the social system and sustainable development and ii) the relation between their nonfinancial performance (environmental, social, sustainability) and their financial performance. The results revealed a positive correlation between sustainability activities, the impact on sustainable development and the financial performance of companies.

O. Weber, T. Köllner, D. Habegger, H. Steffensen & P. Ohnemus (2005)
GOE, and ASSET4 (www.asset4.com)
English, 19 Pages (PDF)
CHF 39 / EUR 25
Order

About 15 years ago, banks started to integrate environmental risks into their credit risk management procedures. In this article a survey of the European banking sector focusing on the analysis of the integration of environmental risks into all phases of the credit risk management as there are rating, costing, pricing, monitoring and work-out is presented. The integration of environmental risks into all phases of the credit risk management process is important because only then an adequate risk management is guaranteed. Banks that are signatories of the UNEP statement by banks on the environment and sustainable development were compared with banks that did not sign this agreement so far. The results show that generally banks integrate environmental risks especially into the rating phase. But only a few integrate them in all phases of the credit management process though it is recommendable, because those risks influence all phases of the credit management process and not only the rating phase. Furthermore significant differences in integrating environmental risks between UNEP and non-UNEP banks could be found.

O. Weber, M. Fenchel and R.W. Scholz (2005)
GOE, ETH Zürich
English, 21 Pages (PDF)
CHF 39 / EUR 25
Order

What influence does a commercial debtor’s economic, environmental, and social performance in terms of sustainability have on its credit risk rating? Does adding criteria aimed at assessing a lender’s environmental, social, or sustainability practices improve upon traditional financial rating criteria? Many analyses have reported that a correlation exists between companies’ environmental performance and their financial performance. We checked out the assertion that it “pays to be sustainable” by analyzing the role that criteria pertaining to sustainability and environmental orientation play in the commercial credit risk management process. Our results show that sustainability criteria can be used to predict the financial performance of a debtor and improve the predictive validity of the credit rating process. We conclude that the sustainability a firm demonstrates influences its creditworthiness as part of its financial performance.

O. Weber, G. Michalik and R.W. Scholz (2005)
GOE, ETH Zürich
English, 21 Pages (PDF)
CHF 39 / EUR 25
Order

The goal of this study is to compare the environmental impacts of SRI-funds with those of conventional investment funds. The basic motivation for this study was the observation that the overlap of the portfolios of sustainability (SRI) funds and conventional equity funds can be very large. In addition the sector allocation of both types of funds is in general very similar, because portfolio manager follow the chosen benchmark to minimize risk. Both effects can result in no differentiation of both types of funds in terms of their environmental impact (null hypothesis). The goal of the study is to comparatively assess the environmental impact of portfolios of 26 investment funds. We selected 13 sustainability funds and 13 conventional funds for the benchmark MSCI World. The study applies the IO-LCA in combination with a simulation of company specific environmental performance for evaluating the environmental impact per functional unit for each fund, which is the risk adjusted financial performance. We then use statistical analysis to test the null hypothesis.

Köllner, T., Weber, O. and Moser, C. (2005)
GOE, Care Group – Management Gesellschaft
English, 30 Pages (PDF)
CHF 39 / EUR 25
Order

In this publication you find in depth and actual ratings of more than 40 SRI Funds available in German speaking countries. The publication contributes to the transparency in a fast growing business of green, socially responsible or sustainable financial products. In addition to a ranking of the SRI Funds you find extensive fact sheets presenting the strengths and weaknesses of the funds. That information supports you in the evaluation and selection of a SRI Fund of your choice. Furthermore the publication presents the method of the GOE-Sustainability Rating of SRI Funds. The development of the method was supported by the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape and the Swiss Federal Office for Spatial Development.

Köllner, T. and Weber, O. (2005)
GOE
English, 60 Pages (PDF)
CHF 39 / EUR 25
Order