S&P Dow Jones Indices, RobecoSAM and Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) Monday announced the launch of the S&P/TSX 60 ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) index.
The index is designed to track the performance of the constituent companies of the S&P/TSX 60, Canada’s leading equity benchmark, while taking into account each company’s sustainability performance relative to the corresponding industry-specific standards.
Zurich-based RobecoSAM, the investment specialist focused exclusively on sustainability investing, evaluates companies’ sustainability profiles using their proprietary assessment methodology.
The new index is designed for market participants who currently use the S&P/TSX 60 and are looking to deepen the scope of their stock analysis to include sustainability criteria. The construction methodology is based on the S&P/TSX 60, while companies’ sustainability profiles are evaluated using the RobecoSAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). Companies are then re-weighted according to their sustainability score, meaning those with a higher score are weighted higher in the S&P/TSX 60 ESG index than in the S&P/TSX 60.
“We are excited to expand our ESG offering with the launch of the S&P/TSX 60 ESG index.
“This index provides investors in the Canadian equity market with an objective, investible benchmark against which they can measure their sustainability investment portfolios,” said Alka Banerjee, managing director of global equity indices, S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a release.