ZURICH - SAM today announced that it has licensed the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) to Credit Agricole Asset Management Japan Ltd. The licensee will use the DJSI World as a universe for a fund to be launched tomorrow. The new product will be distributed by Hachijuni Bank and will offer a risk-limited exposure to a basket of Japanese companies that are members of the DJSI World. It will be the third Japanese product - together with funds from Nikko Asset Management and UBS Global Asset Management (Japan) - managed against the DJSI.

"With licensees in 14 countries, our family of sustainability indexes is continuously expanding its global reach. We are delighted that Credit Agricole Asset Management Japan has chosen the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for its new offering. Japan is clearly a lead market for sustainability investments in Asia and we are looking forward to further growing our presence there," says Alexander Barkawi, Managing Director of SAM Indexes, the operating company for the index business of SAM Group.

"In Japan, we are now seeing an accelerating momentum for investment processes which integrate economic, environmental and social criteria," says Ms. Satomi TAKABA, Executive Officer / Head of Investment Trust Distribution Division at Credit Agricole Asset Management Japan. "Together with Hachijuni Bank - our partner for this new product - we want to tap into this segment and meet the growing demand for sustainability-driven products among our private and institutional clients. The DJSI provides us with a thoroughly researched and transparent platform to target this objective."

Note to the editor:
Launched in 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes track the market performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide. Based on the cooperation of Dow Jones Indexes, STOXX Limited and SAM Group the indexes provide asset managers with reliable and objective benchmarks to manage sustainability portfolios. 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 STOXXSM 600 Index. The Dow Jones EURO STOXX Sustainability Index (DJSI EURO STOXX) is the Eurozone subset of the DJSI STOXX and, thus, tracks the financial performance of sustainability leaders in this particular region. The selection of index components follows a rules-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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