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Asset Manager of German Reinsurer Munich Re Licenses Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes

Asset Manager of German Reinsurer Munich Re Licenses Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes

Published 10-07-03

Submitted by SAM Indexes

Zurich - MEAG MUNICH ERGO KAG (MEAG), the asset manager of Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, has licensed the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes to move into the growing market for sustainability investments.

Interest in sustainability-driven portfolios has grown considerably among German investors over the last months. According to the Sustainable Business Institute (www.sustainable-investment.org) at the European Business School, the number of funds in this segment of the German fund market has grown by 25% since the beginning of the year. With the DJSI family,MEAG has chosen an index series that is firmly established in this market and widely used by German asset managers - including Deutsche Postbank, DWS, DZ Bank, Gerling Investment, HypoVereinsbank, Invesco, Oppenheim, State Street Global Advisors, Union Investment, and WestLB.

"We are proud that MEAG opted for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes to support their move into this expanding market segment. Sustainability issues - in particular the business impacts of climate change - have been on the agenda of the reinsurance industry for many years. The fact that the asset manager of one of the largest players in this sector has adopted the DJSI family as a universe and benchmark, is an important and motivating recognition for us", says Alexander Barkawi, Managing Director of SAM Indexes.

"MEAG is convinced that the importance of sustainability aspects will be increasingly recognized by investors. Against this background, we are looking forward to providing our clients with a new offering in this field based on three strong pillars: The rigorous and thorough platform of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, the internal sustainability knowledge of our parent company Munich Re, as well as MEAG's extensive capabilities in the field of active asset management", says Dieter Wolf, Managing Director of MEAG MUNICH ERGO KAG.

Note to the editor:

Launched in 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes were launched as the first global indexes tracking the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide. Based on the cooperation of Dow Jones Indexes, STOXX Limited and SAM they provide asset managers with reliable and objective benchmarks to manage sustainability portfolios. 46 DJSI licenses are currently held by asset managers in 14 countries to manage a variety of financial products including actively and passively managed funds, certificates and segregated accounts. In total, they presently manage 2.1 billion EUR based on the DJSI. A list of the DJSI licensees is available at www.sustainability-indexes.com/htmle/other/licensing.html.

The Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes (DJSI World) cover the top 10% of the biggest 2,500 companies in the Dow Jones World Index in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria. As a benchmark for European sustainability investments, the Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Indexes (DJSI STOXX) cover the leading 20% in terms of sustainability of the companies in the Dow Jones STOXX SM 600 index. The selection of index components follows a rule-based process defined in the DJSI Guidebooks. It is based on a thorough assessment of general and industry-specific sustainability criteria. The analysis is verified by an external auditor. Full details about the design philosophy, review methodology and index components are freely available at www.sustainability-indexes.com.

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