By integrating ESG issues into our investment analysis and decision-making processes, we pursue three main objectives: the management of financial risks and opportunities arising from ESG aspects; accounting for the main adverse environmental and social impacts of investments; and supporting the sustainability-related goals of MEAG and its clients.
Events or conditions in the fields of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) can influence the profitability of an investment. Sustainability risks can have an actual or potential material negative impact on the financial value of the investment if they materialise. This is not really a new type of risk. ESG aspects can add to traditional risks such as market, liquidity, counterparty and operational risk.
MEAG's ESG integration concept is designed to recognise such ESG aspects at an early stage, in order to be able to take account of the associated financial opportunities and risks in the interests of our clients. The assessment of ESG criteria supplements traditional financial analysis. We use this approach in all of MEAG's investments.
Asset-class-specific approaches take into account the characteristics of different assets and investment processes. With alternative investments such as infrastructure and real estate we analyse investment opportunities according to defined ESG aspects. The exclusion criteria applied by MEAG KAG can also help to reduce sustainability risks. You can find more details in our Exclusion Policy.
The "principal adverse impacts of investment decisions on sustainability factors" (Principal Adverse Impacts - PAI) refer to the negative effects of investment decisions, particularly on the environment and social issues, irrespective of whether the financial value of the investment is affected. The EU Disclosure Regulation measures the PAI of investments in companies, countries and real estate using a range of indicators from the fields of environment and climate, human rights and employee issues, corruption and bribery.
Examples of PAI indicators include greenhouse gas emissions, pollutant emissions and gender diversity in the management and supervisory bodies of portfolio companies. If a financial market participant exceeds a given level, it is obliged to annually publish the PAI indicator values of its portfolio holdings at company level, and its processes for taking PAI into account in a PAI declaration, on its website. We attach great importance to PAI and accept these obligations.
We support our clients comprehensively in realising sustainability-related investment goals. MEAG offers institutional investors and private clients in the retail fund sector investment products and strategies with an ESG focus.
MEAG offers retail funds with a sustainability focus. The products in the links below offer investors the possibility to invest their capital responsibly.
As part of the current PRI reporting for the 2023 reporting period, MEAG was recognized for the positive development of its expertise in responsible investing. MEAG improved significantly compared to the previous year and achieved 4 out of 5 stars1 in 9 out of 10 assessment categories. It gained one additional star in eight categories and even two additional stars in the Real Estate category.
The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), a global investor initiative supported by the United Nations, assesses the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into the investment process and promotes responsible investing worldwide.
1 The public transparency report can be found in the PRI DataPortal here: https://ctp.unpri.org/dataportalv2/transparency
The FNG seal is the quality standard for sustainable investment funds and similar financial products in German-speaking countries. The holistic methodology of the FNG seal is based on a minimum standard. It applies to transparency criteria and the consideration of labour and human rights, environmental protection and anti-corruption, as summarised in the globally recognised UN Global Compact. In addition, all companies in which the respective fund is invested must be fully analysed with regard to defined sustainability criteria. Hence, investments in companies that generate income from nuclear power, coal mining, coal-fired power generation, fracking, oil sands, tobacco, weapons or armaments are ruled out (in some cases with a turnover tolerance of 5% or 10%).
In addition, “institutional credibility”, “product standards” and “portfolio focus” (selection and dialogue strategy, KPIs) are assessed in a tiered model.
A total of three stars can be obtained on the basis of the extensive assessment criteria.
