Helaba Invest focuses on sus­tain­abi­lity criteria for equity funds

Helaba Invest is increasingly applying environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria to its equity mutual funds.

The ESG screen of the funds is based on the exami­nation of major contro­versies according to a variety of inter­national standards and con­ventions. Among other things, this ensures compliance with the principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environ­ment and the prevention of cor­ruption. It under­scores the sus­tain­able character of Helaba Invest's entire range of mutual funds.

Olaf Tecklenburg, Senior Head of Asset Management Securities: “When we integrated ESG factors into the invest­ment process, we noticed that this only required minor adjustments to our portfolios. What may sound surprising at first, becomes logical and understandable upon closer inspection. This is because the only companies that will operate success­fully on the market in the long term are those that act in a respon­sible manner towards the environ­ment, society and their employees. It is precisely these criteria that have always been the decisive factor for portfolio construction at Helaba Invest and are therefore an implicit com­ponent of risk management. The explicit consideration of ESG factors is therefore a quality check of the existing invest­ment processes.”

By signing the UN Principles for Respon­sible Invest­ments, Helaba Invest has committed itself to aligning its business activities towards sus­tain­ability. The inte­gration of ESG criteria into invest­ment processes under­lines this approach. Helaba Invest has been managing special fund mandates according to ESG criteria for many years at the request of its clients.