• ERSTE WWF STOCK ENVIRONMENT and ERSTE RESPONSIBLE BOND GLOBAL IMPACT receive top grade
• A total of ten Erste AM funds awarded with the FNG seal
• Sustainable assets under management of Erste AM closing in on EUR 5bn threshold

Forum für Nachhaltige Geldanlagen e.V. (FNG), the industry association promoting sustainable investment in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, has awarded ten sustainable investment funds of Erste Asset Management (Erste AM) with the FNG seal. Two funds received the top grade of three stars, namely ERSTE WWF STOCK ENVIRONMENT and ERSTE RESPONSIBLE BOND GLOBAL IMPACT. The FNG seal was awarded for the third time and has established itself on the market as standard for sustainable investment funds over the past years.

In this year’s competition 45 funds from 21 fund managers were subjected to the stringent criteria by an independent auditor, i.e. Novethic. The applicants did not only stem from the German-speaking region, but also from the Netherlands, Italy, Scandinavia, and the UK. Gerold Permoser, Chief Investment Officer and Chief Sustainable Investment Officer of Erste AM: “The results of the FNG seal evaluation illustrate the fact that our integrative ESG approach, which we have developed for over 16 years, meets the highest international quality criteria.” The awards ceremony took place on 30. November in Berlin.
 

Serial winner ERSTE WWF STOCK ENVIRONMENT receives top grade yet again

The first sustainable fund in Austria issued in 2001 received the top grade of three stars for the third time in a row. With this fund, the sustainability team of Erste AM identifies interesting companies and passes them on to the co-operation partner, WWF Austria, for further scrutiny. The WWF environmental advisory board decides on accepting or rejecting the respective company to or from the investment universe. At the moment, more than 300 companies fulfil the stringent criteria of the fund. For this fund, we pass on some of the management fees, which then are used to support the water and climate protection programme of the WWF Austria. For more details, please visit www.erste-am.at.
 

ERSTE RESPONSIBLE BOND GLOBAL IMPACT with maximum number of stars

ERSTE RESPONSIBLE BOND GLOBAL IMPACT also received three stars from the seal auditor, Novethic. This is a global bond fund that takes into account environmental, social, and ethical criteria. It is made up by about 70 sustainable and certified green bonds, climate awareness bonds, and social bonds. According to the Emissions Gap Report 2017 by the UN Environment Programme, the most efficient measures against the progress of global warming are renewable energies, energy efficiency, reforestation, and the avoidance of forest destruction. ERSTE RESPONSIBLE BOND GLOBAL IMPACT comprehensively covers these topics.
 

Additional special awards for particularly ambitious and comprehensive sustainability strategies:

Seven more Erste AM funds were awarded two stars: ERSTE RESPONSIBLE BOND, ERSTE RESPONSIBLE BOND EURO CORPORATE, ERSTE RESPONSIBLE RESERVE, ERSTE RESPONSIBLE STOCK AMERICA, ERSTE RESPONSIBLE STOCK EUROPE, ERSTE RESPONSIBLE STOCK GLOBAL und ERSTE RESPONSIBLE STOCK DIVIDEND. ERSTE RESPONSIBLE BOND EMERGING CORPORATE received one star above the standard certification. In order to further enhance the methodology of the FNG seal, investments in the fossil energy sector are to be deemed a criterion of exclusion in the future. Erste AM has already worked through that issue in 2016 and decided on a coal divestment guideline across the company. In it, it undertakes to avoid investments in the production of coal in all sustainable funds.
 

Sustainable assets under management of Erste AM closing in on EUR 5bn threshold

With sustainable assets under management of EUR 4.9bn (as of 31 October 2017), a total of twelve sustainable mutual funds, and a comprehensive set of experts and expertise, Erste AM is the market leader in the area of sustainability in Austria. Also, Erste AM holds a pioneering role in ethics and sustainability: the company issued the first sustainable mutual fund in 2001.

An overview of the FNG awards for Erste AM funds: