SDG securities: how we choose companies
Companies committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals can benefit from attractive growth opportunities and competitive advantages. According to the UN, they are expected to generate 12 trillion US dollars in GDP by 2030 and create 380 million new jobs by then. With the SDG analysis we use to invest in SDG securities, we discover companies that are still undervalued in the market. As the first step, we exclude all companies that violate an exclusion criterion. In the second step, we evaluate the influence on sustainability topics according to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and filter for companies with a positive effect using our proprietary SDG framework, which links products and services to relevant sustainability goals (SDG leaders). Green bonds, social bonds or sustainable bonds are also possible. In the third step, we analyse these companies in a thorough, substantiated manner. Only companies that pass all three tests are included as SDG leaders in our Sustainable investment universe. Because the market still offers too little choice for a broadly diversified portfolio of SDG securities despite strong growth, we supplement our Sustainable investment universe with companies with an above-average ESG score (ESG leaders).