Sustainability is much more than just a »trend«

Bantleon was founded in 1991 with the commitment to capital preservation. Since then, our focus has always been on the social benefits of an investment and thus its durability in the economic evolution process.
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Sustainability at Bantleon

Sustainability is strongly anchored in Bantleon's DNA. As an independent company, we have taken responsibility for our actions since our incorporation in 1991 and evaluate our business activities from a long-term and holistic perspective. Furthermore, sustainability as a societal challenge can only be achieved by active participation and not from a passive attitude. Also, we recognised early that sustainability not only reduces risks, but also offers substantial opportunities – and must therefore be taken into account when making investment decisions. Consequently, as an asset manager in predominantly German-speaking countries, we are one of the early signatories of the UN Principles for Sustainable Investment (PRI).

 

With that in mind, ecological, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria are an integral part of our investment processes. This ensures that sustainability risks are identified and addressed at an early stage and that their impact on the »Bantleon Investment Strategies« is minimised. Our ESG integration process is based on the »Triple A« principle: Apply exclusions, Analyse, Address.

Apply exclusions
Analyse
Address

Apply exclusions

Bantleon supports the international agreements on compliance with the conventions on anti-personnel mines (Ottawa Convention) and the prohibition of cluster bombs (Oslo Convention). We therefore do not invest in companies that are directly or indirectly involved in the production and/or distribution of cluster bombs and/or landmines. In addition, companies that are directly or indirectly involved in the

production or distribution of biological and chemical weapons as well as DU munitions are excluded. Furthermore, Bantleon does not speculate on a shortage of food and implements – depending on the investment strategy – further strategy-specific exclusions, such as the exclusion of oil and gas producers in the infrastructure strategies.

Analyse

In addition to the consistent exclusion of companies, ESG criteria are actively integrated into the investment process using ESG databases from leading ESG data providers, publicly available sources and internal analyses. The evaluation is based on detailed data about the target companies and their behaviour or attitude regarding the various sustainability dimensions. The databases used are based on a scoring system whereby each company is assigned a rank within a multi-level scale, which serves as an indicator for the ESG profile. The levels of the scale represent the entire spectrum of possible ESG profiles: weak ESG profile, average ESG profile and above-average ESG profile. The rank within the scale expresses the resilience of an issuer to the long-term, sector-relevant ESG risks. In addition to the company's exposure to ESG risks, the assessment of the ranking position also considers how well it manages these risks relative to peer companies.

Based on this process, Bantleon in particular selects companies with good ESG ratings and avoids investments in companies with a poor ESG rating and consequently high ESG risks. Individual lower rating limits are set depending on the strategy. In principle, preference is also given to companies that participate in the UN Global Compact of the United Nations, as well as companies from countries that have signed up to the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises.

Address

The aim of the sustainability dialogues is to positively influence the companies. To this end, Bantleon participates in various conferences, roadshows and company presentations. During these events, the analysts and portfolio managers are encouraged to challenge the management of the respective company on the ESG profile and the ESG development of their company. The results are incorporated into the fundamental analysis and communicated to the team. In case of equity investments, claiming sustainable management is an integral part of regular company discussions and a principle in the exercise of shareholder rights.

The result of our ESG integration are investment solutions with high sustainability profiles, so that sustainability risks can be minimised and at the same time ESG-driven return opportunities can be exploited in the best possible way.

More information:
Management of sustainability risks