2018 RobecoSAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) Making the Most of the CSA and the Online Assessment Portal

Transcription

1 2018 RobecoSAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) Making the Most of the CSA and the Online Assessment Portal March 6 th, 2018

2 Agenda Introduction to RobecoSAM & the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices How can the CSA add value to your organization? The DJSI process & the online assessment interface Timeline, next steps & advice for a successful submission Q&A 2

3 Introduction to RobecoSAM & Dow Jones Sustainability Indices 3

4 RobecoSAM at a Glance Investment boutique focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing since 1995 Approximately 110 employees headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland In-depth corporate sustainability assessment focusing on financial materiality -including economic, environmental and social criteria that have a focus on long-term shareholder value Part of the Robeco Group, operating in 14 countries with 1,500 employees globally and 276 billion of assets under management 4

5 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) Cooperation with S&P Dow Jones Indices for the publication and licensing of the DJSI Launched in 1999, the DJSI were the first global indices tracking the financial performance of leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide Integrated assessment of economic, environmental and social criteria with a strong focus on long-term shareholder value Rules-based methodology and use of primary research Focus on best-in-class companies with yearly review of component selection and continuous monitoring of companies Broad family of global, regional and country DJSI benchmarks Third-party assurance of the assessment process by Deloitte 5

6 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) Increasing company participation since Source: RobecoSAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment

7 Continuous Methodology Development RobecoSAM Research Industry Expertise Topic Expertise Methodology Collaborations Company Feedback Methodology Development CDP London Benchmarking Group GRESB EDGE Interbrand 7

8 How can the CSA add value to your organization? 8

9 Key Benefits of Participating in the CSA Benchmarking benchmark your company against peers and competitors Financial Materiality - Focus on industry-specific and financially relevant topics Reputation and brand Identify yourself as a sustainability leader to your internal and external stakeholders Drive internal change through greater buy-in from management on sustainability s importance Strengthen your internal sustainability network by connecting key people Attract a growing number of sustainability-focused investors 9

10 What Drives Companies to Participate? Leading companies see value in the CSA because: Gives visibility and credibility to your sustainability performance Drives strategic decisions within the company Communicating CSA results to employees makes them proud Eases stakeholder dialogues, for example with critical NGOs CSA participation can be seen as a management tool Hear directly what motivates companies to participate: 10

11 The Benchmarking Process Competitive benchmarking typically involves the following repetitive steps: Step 1: Measure your performance Establish your sustainability baseline and quantify your progess. Step 4: Take action Set or adjust your strategy to close the identified gaps. Step 2: Benchmark against your peer group Select the areas most important to your business Source: RobecoSAM Step 3: Learn from data Discuss the results with management and operational functions 11

12 How the CSA Results are Used Sustainability investing sustainability investing is the fastest growing space in the financial industry and a strong sustainability profile will benefit you DJSI be included world s most well-known corporate sustainability benchmark the index components are downloaded one time every minute. RobecoSAM Sustainability Yearbook gain recognition and visibility via inclusion in the annual Sustainability Yearbook New sustainability indices S&P ESG Indices (e.g. S&P500 ESG, Global 1200 ESG, Europe 350 ESG), S&P Long-Term Value Creation Index Bloomberg Since 2016, percentiles ranks are available to a growing number of mainstream and ESG-focused investors via the Bloomberg Professional platform 12

13 RobecoSAM on Bloomberg Industry Comparison Bloomberg command: BI ESG <GO> Source: Bloomberg 13

14 RobecoSAM on Bloomberg Peer Comparison Bloomberg command: BI ESG <GO> Source: Bloomberg 14

15 The DJSI process & the online assessment tool 15

16 Registration & Confirmation of Participation When will I be able to access the questionnaire and start filling it out? The official invitations were sent out on February 22 nd On April 5 th, all invited companies will receive an with instructions for confirming their participation in the 2017 assessment: New companies: you will be redirected to a page where you can register your user account Returning companies: you will be prompted to log in to your account and manually confirm participation to be able to start editing your questionnaire 16

17 Registration & Confirmation of Participation 17

18 Registration & Confirmation of Participation 18

19 Administrator vs. User Account The administrator account can only be used by one person and has additional privileges, including: Confirming participation Managing users and contact details Pre-filling previous year s answers for the full questionnaire Requesting deadline extensions Approving final versions of questions Submitting the questionnaire Accessing company reports, including the Benchmarking Scorecards NEW in Defining document types, i.e. managing confidential documents that can be opened only by the administrator NEW in Managing user access to individual parts of the questionnaire and selected tabs of the online interface (e.g. MSA or Reports tab). NEW in 2018 Overview of your company s subscriptions and services 19

20 Managing your Account Details 20

21 Working on your Submission 21

22 Warning Messages 22

23 Uploading Documents 23

24 Uploading Documents 24

25 New functionality in

26 Managing Users The Administrator can create and manage any number of user accounts These accounts can be distributed to different departments or colleagues 2018 CSA Questionnaire: By default all newly created users have access to all questions and all documents: The administrator can restrict editing rights of specific questions to specific users Users will not be able to see the answers of questions for which they do not have editing rights The administrator can set documents as confidential from the Documents tab by marking them as Admin only Historical CSA questionnaires: By default all questions and answers of the previous CSA questionnaires submitted by the company are visible to all users: The administrator can restrict the historic questions visible to specific users The administrator can restrict the confidentiality of historical documents as well 26

27 Managing Users 27

28 Managing Users 28

29 Document Accessibility From 2018, documents can be marked as Admin only or All access Admin only can only be viewed and downloaded by the administrator All access can be viewed by anyone with a user account Users cannot open or download documents set as Admin only even when uploaded by the user itself Both newly added documents, as well as the historical documents can be marked as Admin only 29

30 Document Management From 2018, RobecoSAM has limited the amount of references that can be uploaded with the intention of reducing the overall reporting burden on companies and ensuring that supporting evidence remains relevant and specific. In 2018, you will still be able to pre-fill all documents or references from the previous year. A warning will appear upon saving the question that the number of references has been exceeded. All documents and references from the previous year will be pre-filled this year. No more than five documents or web links will be accepted per available document clip. In some questions, the number may be less, if for example, RobecoSAM is looking for a policy, etc. The online assessment tool will provide you with a warning message both upon saving the document and upon submitting the questionnaire if you have exceeded the document limit in any question. Please review all documents and only attach those that are specifically linked to the answer you have provided. Please remember that additional links and information provided in the company comment box may not be considered in the analysis of the question. 30

31 Document Management 31

32 Public & Partially Public References In 2018, questions that require publicly available information or where more credit may be awarded for public availability have been clearly marked in the online interface You will see a banner at the top of these questions, indicating whether public information is required or additional credit may be awarded if the reference is public For questions where only publicly available information is accepted, you will no longer be able to attach documents: you will only be able to provide a web link. You may upload a copy of the document to the Documents Overview section of the online assessment tool. Upon pre-fill of public questions only URLs will be carried forward while documents (e.g. PDFs) will be disregarded 32

33 Public & Partially Public References 33

34 Timeline, next steps & advice for a successful submission 34

35 Key Dates 2017 Information update with draft versions of key methodology changes Official invitations sent out to all eligible companies Webcasts about the CSA and methodology changes Feb/ March April 5 th Official deadline for submitting completed questionnaires May 31 st September 13 th New questionnaire becomes available through the online assessment tool Annual index rebalancing and announcement of new index members 35

36 Announcement of Index Members The new index members will be publicly announced September 13th Members have the right to use membership logo the usage guidelines are included in the terms & conditions you will accept before submitting Results are communicated to companies through three main reports: Company Benchmarking Scorecard Media & Stakeholder Analysis (MSA) Report Industry Overview 36

37 Example of Company Benchmarking Scorecard 37

38 Tips for a Successful Submission In each question, read information texts containing specific data requirements and key definitions If requested, provide supporting evidence that covers all answers that you have marked. Make sure the evidence is relevant and specific to your answers If specifically indicated, make sure your supporting evidence is publicly available Remember that the official language of the DJSI is English If you feel that a specific question is not applicable to your company s business model, please provide a comment explaining why 38

39 Tips for a Successful Submission Providing explanatory comments should be the exception rather than rule Additional comments should be used only to explain changes in data, calculation methodologies, why a question is not applicable Be brief and to the point. Make sure that you provide the most relevant information and documents for the question asked Pay attention to warning messages in the system, which may point to incomparable data or data entry mistakes Contact the CSA Helpline if you have any questions about the methodology 39

40 Questions? Contact us: RobecoSAM CSA Helpline Visit the CSA website: 40

41 Disclaimer No warranty This publication is derived from sources believed to be accurate and reliable, but neither its accuracy nor completeness is guaranteed. The material and information in this publication are provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied. RobecoSAM AG and its related, affiliated and subsidiary companies disclaim all warranties, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Any opinions and views in this publication reflect the current judgment of the authors and may change without notice. It is each reader's responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any opinions, advice, services or other information provided in this publication. Limitation of liability All information contained in this publication is distributed with the understanding that the authors, publishers and distributors are not rendering legal, accounting or other professional advice or opinions on specific facts or matters and accordingly assume no liability whatsoever in connection with its use. In no event shall RobecoSAM AG and its related, affiliated and subsidiary companies be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of any opinion or information expressly or implicitly contained in this publication. Copyright Unless otherwise noted, text, images and layout of this publication are the exclusive property of RobecoSAM AG and/or its related, affiliated and subsidiary companies and may not be copied or distributed, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of RobecoSAM AG or its related, affiliated and subsidiary companies. No Offer The information and opinions contained in this publication constitutes neither a solicitation, nor a recommendation, nor an offer to buy or sell investment instruments or other services, or to engage in any other kind of transaction. The information described in this publication is not directed to persons in any jurisdiction where the provision of such information would run counter to local laws and regulation RobecoSAM AG 41

42 Q&A 42