Sustainable investment opportunities
1. Sustainable Equity Funds
2. Responsible investment for ING Private Banking clients
Sustainable Equity Funds
ING offers investors socially responsible investment (SRI) opportunities such as the ING IM global sustainable equity funds. The managers of the funds combine conventional financial analysis with the assessment of environmental and social policies and performance.
The funds do not invest in companies involved in:
- weapons trade
- nuclear energy
- tobacco
- gambling
- pornography
- fur trade
Furthermore, companies can be excluded on the basis of social or environmental criteria, like forced labour, child labour or discrimination.
Our analysts select the top 50% of the remaining companies within each sector with the most sustainable and best financial performance.
Results over the past few years show that the attention paid to environmental, social and governance criteria has not been at the expense of the investment return.
The funds are marketed through ING’s business units in Europe, the US and Australia under the following names.
Netherlands:
Australia:
Luxembourg:
Responsible investment for ING Private Banking clients
A fast-growing number of private banking investors are not only interested in financial value, but also want to know how companies realise profits. Besides receiving the usual financial information about a company, they take environmental, social and ethical criteria into account.
ING in the Netherlands has been gathering this relevant additional information since 1999 and offering it to investors, including charities and foundations.
Valuable information
ING Bank’s Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) department selects companies that meet responsible and sustainable criteria and gathers information on their environmental and social performance.
This additional information will help investors to incorporate SRI investments into their portfolios to enhance sustainable aspects.
Responsible investment strategy
ING in the Netherlands now offers retail customers the option to invest according to five different approaches.
One of these five approaches is ‘Socially Responsible Investing’ , which builds portfolios by taking ‘People, Planet and Society’ issues into account.
Customers can choose either select investment funds from ING or from other providers, or they can select individual companies that meet the ING criteria on sustainability.
Sustainable investment funds
ING provides clients in the Netherlands with information on the sustainable investment funds offered by a wide range of providers, not just funds managed by ING. ING selects funds that distinguish themselves by certain sustainability topics and/or themes and meet general ING criteria.
ING Liric
In 2008, ING Private Banking in the Netherlands launched the ING Liric Duurzaam Top 50, an eight-year sustainable structured product with a guaranteed 100% repayment of the nominal value. Payout at maturity is linked to the performance of the ING Socially Responsible Investment Index which is powered by Holt (part of Credit Suisse). The ING SRI Index consists of 50 stocks, selected on the basis of financial criteria by Holt from a universe of stocks that meet the sustainability criteria of ING’s specialized SRI department These criteria contain both positive (best-in-class) and negative (exclusionary) sustainable selection criteria and compliance with general ING policies . Every 6 months the index will be rebalanced due to both sustainable and financial reasoning. The ING SRI Index is quoted on Bloomberg, ticker ISRII.
For more information please visit www.ing.nl , or contact your local ING Bank.
ING Thai Global Water Fund
Clean water is an indispensible source of life. Before it can be used, drinking water however needs to undergo a thorough process of purification and delivery. The ING Thai Global Water Fund invests in exactly these steps of the water process. The ING Thai Global Water Fund is a feeder fund that invests at least 80% of its net asset value on annual average in the ‘Claymore S&P Global Water Index’, which is the first listed global water exchange traded fund and currently listed on NYSE Arca Exchange. The ING Thai Global Water Fund seeks investment result in correlation to S&P global Water Index and consists of 25 water utilities and infrastructure companies and 25 water equipment and materials companies.
Green finance
"ING's Green Finance department provides loans for environmentally friendly projects certified under the Dutch Fiscal Green Finance scheme. Such projects cover areas like renewable energy, nature development and organic agriculture. Projects are eligible as Green Finance projects if they contribute to a better environment and are innovative or unique. Recent projects include district heating, heat pump and solar energy projects, as well as nature preservation and organic farming. See our Corporate Responsibility report 2009 for an interview with one of our sustainable farmers. ING Groenbank, ING's Dutch green bank, managed EUR 932 million for ING customers for green projects. ING Retail clients in the Netherlands can place saving deposits or buy notes in ING Groenbank."
