Credit Suisse Asset Management, Pictet and UBS have introduced the first institutional index funds on the new SPI ESG and the SBI ESG indices from SIX. With these new index funds for institutional investors on our sustainability indices, SIX is able to cover further client segments.
“We are very excited that Credit Suisse Asset Management, Pictet and UBS have chosen the new ESG indices for their index funds, as this provides retail and institutional investors with additional possibilities to implement ESG in their portfolios. The new Swiss Equity and Swiss Franc Bond ESG indices cover the broad market in their respective asset class and have similar risk and return profiles to the traditional SPI and SBI indices”, highlights Christian Bahr, Head Index Services in the Business Unit Financial Information of SIX.
Credit Suisse Asset Management is now providing the CSIF (CH) Equity Switzerland Total Market ESG Blue on the SPI ESG index as well as the CSIF (CH) Bond Switzerland AAA-BBB ESG Blue on the SBI ESG AAA-BBB index and Pictet has issued the Swiss Sustainable Equities Tracker on the SPI ESG index. After the launch of the first ETF on the SIX ESG indices, UBS has expanded its offering with the following sub-funds within the Swiss investment fund ‘UBS (CH) Investment Fund’: Equities Switzerland ESG Passive All II on the SPI ESG index as well as the Bonds CHF Ausland ESG Passive II on the SBI ESG Foreign AAA-BBB index and Bonds CHF Inland ESG Passive II on the SBI ESG Domestic AAA-BBB index.
ESG Investments are Here to Stay
Demand for ESG investments has risen sharply on a global scale in recent years and the range of opportunities available to investors in this space is only expected to increase further.
SIX currently offers two SPI ESG indices for equities based on the Swiss Performance Index (SPI). For bonds there are 20 new SBI ESG indices available, all based on the Swiss Bond Index (SBI). In developing its ESG indices, SIX has drawn on data sources including the independent Swiss sustainability rating agency Inrate. Further information on the SIX ESG indices as well as the list of all index-based financial products using SIX indices is available here.