Berlin is one of the latest capitals to join the movement that has seen
cities, such as Oslo and Stockholm, commit to divestment as a response to climate change.
In summer 2016, Berlin announced a plan to divest its reserve funds from companies involved in the extraction
of fossil fuels (i.e. coal, oil and natural gas), or operating in disputable industries such as nuclear and arms, or
that do not comply with the principles promoted by the UN Global Compact. To put the plan into action, a
sustainable equity index will be developed in a joint collaboration by Solactive and oekom research. The index,
which will be customized to the State of Berlin’s divesting policies, not only aims to achieve the
aforementioned qualitative goals but will also allocate funds to ESG-related investment objectives, while
ensuring the ease of tradability of the index constituents.
For this project, Solactive and oekom research were selected among other contestants by the Senate
Department for Finance of Berlin thanks to the compelling index concept which was jointly pitched. Both
Solactive and oekom research have a long track record of experience in their respective fields and this
collaboration brings together the best of both worlds – expertise in ESG rating with an in-depth know-how of
index construction – in a combined solution.
“We received numerous applications and concept proposals from different candidates. This highlights the fact
that sustainability is becoming an increasingly relevant topic in the financial sector”, says Dr. Matthias KollatzAhnen,
Senator for Finance of the State of Berlin. “I am confident that Berlin found very strong partners in
Solactive and oekom research and this will enable us to set a new benchmark for sustainable investment
strategies for public funds.”
Robert Haßler, CEO of oekom research, adds: “We are very much looking forward to supporting the State of
Berlin with our research and data on sustainability and company-related climate risks. Our expertise as
divestment advisers for municipal pioneers, such as the cities of Stuttgart and Münster, and our long lasting
close cooperation with Solactive in the construction of sustainable indices, make us experienced partners for
the environmental and climate plans of Berlin.”
Steffen Scheuble, Chairman and founder of Solactive, explains: “As index providers, we see a high demand for
sustainability indices. A number of studies have shown that companies that do not follow sustainability
strategies might lag in relative performance due to ESG related risks. Therefore, we are very proud to support –together with oekom research – the State of Berlin with our sustainability index. When defining the index
concept, we put a lot of effort in coming up with the best possible combination of sustainability and tradability
of the composing shares.”
Solactive is an active player in ESG indexing with approximately 30 ESG-themed indices available to invest. ESG
criteria provided by sustainability specialists, such as oekom research, are used to define the starting universe
from which Solactive creates indices to respond to customers’ demand. The range of ESG solutions consists of
both broad market index benchmarks and smart beta indices based on both equity and fixed-income
instruments. The City of Berlin will capitalize on both Solactive’ and oekom’s expertise to develop a sustainable
index tailored to its divesture strategy.
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