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Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland since 2009 and, since 2016, a member of the Italian counterpart “Forum
per la Finanza Sostenibile”. Raiffeisen KAG is also a founding member of the Raiffeisen Climate Protection Initiative,
which was renamed the Raiffeisen Sustainability Initiative in fall 2017. This was the beginning of a growing
involvement with an overall integration of sustainability into the asset management business.
In 2015, Raiffeisen KAG joined the “Montreal Carbon Pledge”, an initiative of the UN-PRI (United Nations-
supported Principles for Responsible Investment) dedicated to publishing the CO2 footprint of investment funds.
As a result of climate change, withdrawing from investments in companies focused on fossil fuels (“fossil
divestments”) is entering the discussion of responsible business activities more and more.
Other memberships include the “CDP” or “CDP Water” (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project – a non-profit
organization with initiatives in the area of climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption
– and in the Green bond-related initiatives “Investor Statement re: Green Bonds & Climate Bonds” as well as
“Green Infrastructure Investment Coalition”. Membership in these initiatives is an active one. Raiffeisen KAG
regularly takes the impulses and information it receives there on board, while, at the same time, it shares its own
experiences in the day-to-day sustainability investment business. These initiatives also usually include the (further)
development of standards which improve the comparability and the impact of sustainable investing.
In order to take into account the increasing importance of integrating sustainability into investment and also to
broaden discourse with stakeholders, an advisory committee for sustainable investment was established in 2017.
The committee has already met twice. Its purpose is to provide Raiffeisen KAG’s activities in the area of sustainable
investments with substantive, academic and inputs motivated from various stakeholder groups´ perspectives. The
advisory board acts as a specialized body representing the key stakeholder groups for sustainable investments.
The goal of consistently enhancing sustainability in the core business is last but not least ensured by a dedicated
“Sustainable Investments” team together with an already large group of specialists within the fund management.
Close coordination between this department and other areas of Asset Management ensures ongoing deepening
and broadening of sustainability know-how within Raiffeisen KAG. This is reflected not least in our active commitment
in the sense of exercising our right to vote or actively communicating with listed companies on ESG issues. In
2017, 392 active company engagement activities took place and 140 votes were cast. These votes took place
either directly at general meetings or on specific platforms. This is a significant increase compared to previous
years. An annual engagement report is published on the website (www.rcm.at).
Another result of the intensive involvement with ESG topics is the publication of the regular newsletter
“nachhaltiginvestieren”. In 2017, there were five – addressing specific questions, e.g. coal, regionality and
urbanization, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), electromobility, shipping and cruises, and finally being
overweight and obesity. Over the past four years, a total of 19 newsletters have been published.
Sustainability philosophy and investment processes
Raiffeisen KAG’s sustainability philosophy, as it is implemented in the sustainability funds, consists of three main
elements: The first is the expanded information base that comes from considering sustainability. Taking into
account extra-financial information – in addition to traditional financial criteria – leads to a larger set of data for
the analysis of companies and issuers compared with traditional investments. The second point that follows this is
the broader basis for selection decisions and risk reduction. Sustainable analyses can improve the risk profile
of the portfolio. In general, the responsibility and future viability of the investment is the central focus. Ecological,
stakeholder-relevant and governance risks are considered in the investment process and improve the risk profile
of the portfolio. Thirdly, the positive influence on yield that comes with sustainability needs to be mentioned.
Investing in the most sustainable companies and issuers leads to stable yields that are at least comparable with
those of traditional investments.
Raiffeisen Bank International | Sustainability Report 2017