Sustainability Yearbooks 2009 And 2010

The Sustainability Yearbook 2010

Summarized by

Paulus Karremans

The Sustainability Yearbook 2009

&

by SAM and PriceWaterhouseCoopers

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Note that

• This presentation represents my personal view.

• It may not necessarily reflect the ideas of the author(s) of the document that’s been summarized in this presentation.

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Table of Contents

• About both Yearbooks and SAM• Yearbook 2009• Yearbook 2010• Personal Reflections• References• Thank you

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

About Both Yearbooks and SAM

• On a frequent basis Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) assesses corporate sustainability practices for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI).

• SAM’s sustainability assessment was primarily designed as a “tool”to make better investment decisions, whereas it has also appeared to work as a catalyst to improve corporate sustainability.

• Yearbook 2009 looks back at the assessment results of the past decade.

• Yearbook 2010 focuses more on SAM’s business and its assessment practices.

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Yearbook 2009 Introduction

• On a frequent basis Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) assesses corporate sustainability practices for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI).

• In this 99-page yearbook [2] SAM together with PriceWaterhouseCoopers presents the outcome of an analysis they´ve performed with the help of Robeco´s Quantitative Strategy Dpt. on SAM´s data of the past decade.

• SAM has noticed an increased awareness from companies towards sustainability as participation in their assessment has almost doubled over the decade.

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Key Findings Yearbook 2009

• “There is a positive relationship between corporate sustainability and the financial performance as measured by stock returns”. This applies to US, Europe and Japan.

• “Firms adhering to sustainability are not contradicting their primary function, which is to maximize the profits of their shareholders”.

• Further integration of sustainability concepts in stock selection is foreseen, as these concepts can help identify stocks that are less vulnerable to crises.

• “Corporate sustainability … emphasizes a long-term business perspective” hence it’s a good financial viability indicator.

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Sustainability Can Outperform

• Statistical analysis results graphically represented:

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Graph explanatory info

•

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Yearbook 2010 Introduction

• In this 116-page yearbook [1] SAM:– Introduces the rise of the United Nations Principles for

Responsible Investment (PRI); a set of investment principles that bear sustainability in mind (Environmental, Social and corporate Governance criteria).

– Emphasizes that status and development of the intangible assets (such as human capital and environmental approach) of a company can be measured and should be part of a financial performance evaluation.

– Explains how it uses its sustainability assessment to determine the sustainability performance (focus on the intangible assets) of a company and how that impacts the financial value of that company.

– Short interviews with AkzoNobel and Unilever are presented

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Key Findings Yearbook 2010• Although not stated explicitly, the report hints several times at

a positive relation between corporate sustainability and the financial performance of a company.

• And: “By adopting an investment strategy that systematically invests in the top 20% of the most sustainable companies in each business sector, it is possible to achieve a better performance”.

• “the reverse argument was also found to be true: the share price of the bottom 20% with the poorest sustainability ratings in each sector underperformed the comparison group”.

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Sector Leaders and Movers

• The Yearbooks also present:– A list of firms that SAM considers sector leaders

and movers (firms that noticeably improved their rating) wrt corporate sustainability

– An overview of various sectors, including distinct sector specific criteria, and the sector leaders and movers applicable to that sector

– A table that lists in which DJSI the assessed firms appear

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Personal Reflections

• The historical analysis findings are presented in a concise and crystal clear manner (yearbook 2009).

• It is interesting to see that SAM may indeed act as a catalyst; motivating corporations to embrace and develop corporate sustainability (yearbook 2010). This thought is reinforced by the two interviews.

• I would be interested in learning about other organizations that perform/have performed analyses similar to SAM’s to be able to compare findings.

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

References

1. http://www.sam-group.com/yearbook/2. http

://www.pwc.com/gx/en/sustainability/sustainability-yearbook-2009.jhtml

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Take some time

to think about it

Thank You

•I hope you enjoyed this presentation

•Feedback is welcomed

•Feel free to share this presentation with others

2010 Sustainability Yearbooks 2009/10 summarized by Paulus Karremans

Contact

• For contact and more presentations: http://nl.linkedin.com/in/pkarremans