Robeco, The Investments Engineers
blue circle

10-10-2022 · インサイト

Robeco’s SDG Framework – from niche to mainstream

It’s been five years since Robeco launched its SDG Framework, and from one little acorn, a mighty oak has grown.

    執筆者

  • Taeke Wiersma - Head of Research Board

    Taeke Wiersma

    Head of Research Board

  • Rachel Whittaker, CFA - Head of SI Research

    Rachel Whittaker, CFA

    Head of SI Research

  • Jan Anton van Zanten - SDGストラテジスト

    Jan Anton van Zanten

    SDGストラテジスト

What began as a novel and previously untried method to assess the contributions that companies make to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals now forms a basis for defining sustainable investing across the whole company. It has come a long way, and we are very proud of how our seedling has blossomed.

The Framework uses a three-step method to quantify corporate contributions – both good and bad – to the 17 goals. The SDGs range from eradicating hunger and inequality to tackling climate change and promoting sustainable industry. They are being used as a blueprint for investors who want to shift capital towards companies providing solutions for society’s problems and away from those that have negative environmental and social impacts.

Investors need good data for that. So, our analysts examine what a company does, how it does it, and whether it has been involved in any controversies. Once the data is known, a scoring system is used that ranges from -3 (a highly negative contribution) through zero (neutral) to +3 (highly positive), as seen in the illustration below.

robecos-sdg-framework-from-niche-to-mainstream-fig1.jpg

The Framework was originally designed in 2017 to find candidates for two SDG credits and equities funds launched in 2018. Companies with positive scores could be considered for inclusion, and those with negative scores rejected. Beginning with just a handful of companies, in recent years the Framework has massively expanded its range.

We used academic research on the linkages between sectors and SDGs; applied natural language processing (NLP) techniques to read companies’ business descriptions; and then fed in data from numerous sources. Combined, this allowed us to assign SDG scores to more than 15,000 companies – leading us to have near universal coverage of our universe.

Its usefulness for stock selection is immense. We know not only know how positive or negative a company is for the SDGs overall; we can also show which SDGs are impacted by a company. For example, the Framework found that around 30% of the companies in the MSCI All Country World Index contribute to SDG 8 (Decent work and economic growth) and SDG 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure). Another 16% contribute positively to SDG 3 (Good health and well-being). Negative impacts are most often associated with climate change, with 11% of MSCI ACWI companies negatively impacting SDG 13 (climate action).

国や企業のサステナビリティ関連スコアは?

持続可能な開発目標(SDGs)に対する企業の貢献度や、ESG基準に基づく各国のランキングを検索してみましょう。

さらに見る

Used across the company

The Framework proved so adept at assessing companies’ impacts on sustainable development that we can now provide a diverse range of SDG investment strategies. These cross different asset classes – equity and fixed income – as well as the investment styles of fundamental, quant and indices. It will be further used by the multi-asset team to underpin sustainability across asset classes.

Using the SDGs as a scoring mechanism forms part of a wider belief that SI is moving on from a sole focus on ESG integration. Whereas ESG typically looks at how a company’s financial performance is affected by environmental, social or governance factors, the SDG score assesses if an investment is actually making a positive impact on the ground.

This is an important difference: various tobacco companies can get top-notch ESG ratings while they have negative SDG scores due to their adverse health impacts. This impact philosophy lies at the core of the SDGs themselves.

A defining moment

A further development is the role that SDG scores will play in meeting the reporting and disclosure requirements of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). Under the SFDR Level 2 Regulatory Technical Standards, from 2023 the Framework will be used as one way to define what is actually considered a sustainable investment at Robeco. If a company scores positively, then it can be labelled as sustainable. This system will also determine whether a fund can be labeled as ‘Article 9’ pursuing a wholly sustainable objective.

Next to regulation, the SDG scores form part of product innovation. The fact that some companies are trying to become more sustainable but are not quite there yet – getting low negative -1 or zero scores on the Framework – led to the creation of an entirely new fund. Companies that were willing to engage with Robeco’s Active Ownership team to improve their scores are included in the SDG Engagement Equities fund that is already seeing results.

And as a strong believer in sharing our knowledge for the furtherment of sustainable investing, Robeco is now sharing the intellectual property of the Framework with stakeholders including clients and academics. This is the first step in the SI Open Access Initiative which began in August 2022.

Our updated brochure

So, as the SDGs reach the half-way stage in their 2015-2030 targets, we can be proud of how far the Framework has come in helping to achieve these goals. The goals are a marathon, not a sprint, but we’ve laid the groundwork for finishing the race by developing a world-leading analysis tool.

How it all works is explained in an update to our SDG Framework brochure, including some examples of how it applies to individual SDGs, and how the scores are used in portfolio construction.

Download the brochure here

重要事項

当資料は情報提供を目的として、Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.が作成した英文資料、もしくはその英文資料をロベコ・ジャパン株式会社が翻訳したものです。資料中の個別の金融商品の売買の勧誘や推奨等を目的とするものではありません。記載された情報は十分信頼できるものであると考えておりますが、その正確性、完全性を保証するものではありません。意見や見通しはあくまで作成日における弊社の判断に基づくものであり、今後予告なしに変更されることがあります。運用状況、市場動向、意見等は、過去の一時点あるいは過去の一定期間についてのものであり、過去の実績は将来の運用成果を保証または示唆するものではありません。また、記載された投資方針・戦略等は全ての投資家の皆様に適合するとは限りません。当資料は法律、税務、会計面での助言の提供を意図するものではありません。 ご契約に際しては、必要に応じ専門家にご相談の上、最終的なご判断はお客様ご自身でなさるようお願い致します。 運用を行う資産の評価額は、組入有価証券等の価格、金融市場の相場や金利等の変動、及び組入有価証券の発行体の財務状況による信用力等の影響を受けて変動します。また、外貨建資産に投資する場合は為替変動の影響も受けます。運用によって生じた損益は、全て投資家の皆様に帰属します。したがって投資元本や一定の運用成果が保証されているものではなく、投資元本を上回る損失を被ることがあります。弊社が行う金融商品取引業に係る手数料または報酬は、締結される契約の種類や契約資産額により異なるため、当資料において記載せず別途ご提示させて頂く場合があります。具体的な手数料または報酬の金額・計算方法につきましては弊社担当者へお問合せください。 当資料及び記載されている情報、商品に関する権利は弊社に帰属します。したがって、弊社の書面による同意なくしてその全部もしくは一部を複製またはその他の方法で配布することはご遠慮ください。 商号等: ロベコ・ジャパン株式会社  金融商品取引業者 関東財務局長(金商)第2780号 加入協会: 一般社団法人 日本投資顧問業協会