Aviva's inclusion in the SAM (Sustainable Asset Management) Sustainability Yearbook 2009 makes for encouraging reading. As the world's most comprehensive publication on corporate responsibility and related challenges, and opportunities for companies, it's a significant honour. And it's also a reflection of our recent achievements in the area.
Aviva's inclusion in the SAM (Sustainable Asset Management) Sustainability Yearbook 2009 makes for encouraging reading. As the world's most comprehensive publication on corporate responsibility and related challenges, and opportunities for companies, it's a significant honour. And it's also a reflection of our recent achievements in the area.
By the book
SAM was founded in 1995 as an asset management company exclusively focused on sustainability investments. Today, it ranks among the leading investment groups worldwide in its field of expertise.
Each year, SAM invite 2,500 of the world's largest companies (as reflected in the Dow Jones Global Wilshire Index) to participate in SAM's Corporate Sustainability Assessment. Only the top-scoring 15% of the companies in each of the 57 sectors assessed are eligible for inclusion in the Sustainability Yearbook.
Louella Eastman, group CR director, commented: "CR standards are constantly improving among our peers. So we're pleased that our CR programme has, for the second year, received such high external recognition - thanks to our network of nominated managers around the world who implement our CR vision."
SRI funds showing real strength
Sustainable investment is more attractive than ever. That's why we're at the forefront of the market. Total sales in the European SRI funds sector for December 2008 nudged €1 billion. And Aviva Investors' Sustainable Future Global Equity Fund was the second-highest seller with recorded sales of €85.2 million.
Market analysts Lipper Feri now value the European green fund sector at €12.8 billion. These latest figures appear to show SRI funds are proving robust compared to mainstream funds in the current economic turmoil.
"It's great to see the strength of our performance and process being recognised by the market," commented Peter Michaelis, head of SRI at Aviva Investors. The financial crisis highlights how responsible business conduct is more important than ever for sustaining profitability in today's markets. This is the essence of our SRI philosophy."
"Recent research by Eurosif suggests that the broader European market for SRI funds is over €2.5 trillion," he continued. "So, while our fund flows are strong, there's much more out there to play for," he added.
Update: Our annual ethical ranking
The Covalence annual ethical ranking is a key barometer of how multinational companies are perceived in the ethical field. So our latest position makes heartening reading: We've been placed third out of 30 in the insurance sector, and 151 out of 541 multinational companies overall.
Results are based on a comprehensive range of performance figures. Covalence's ethical quotation system is a reputation index based on data from 45 criteria - such as labour standards, waste management, and human rights policies.