Dow Jones and SAM launch Asian sustainability indexes

Index provider Dow Jones Indexes and SAM, a sustainability investing specialist, have launched the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific and the Sustainability Asia Pacific 40 indexes. A license for the DJSI Asia Pacific has already been signed by Theodoor Gilissen, a Dutch private bank, to manage a sustainability-driven separate account.

The new indexes are based on SAM's analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance. The assessment accounts for general as well as industry specific sustainability criteria for each of the 57 DJSI sectors and covers a variety of issues such as corporate governance, risk management, branding, climate change mitigation, supply chain standards and human capital.

The Asia Pacific Index tracks the top 20% in terms of the SAM analysis out of the largest 600 companies in the