Dow Jones index review prizes Italian bank

The Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes follow a best-in-class approach and include sustainability leaders from each industry on a global and regional level respectively. The annual review of the DJSI family is based on a thorough analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, branding, climate change mitigation, supply chain standards and labor practices. It accounts for general as well as industry specific sustainability criteria for each of 57 industries defined according to the Industry Classification Benchmark (ICB).

“This is the 10th time that we publish the results of SAM’s annual assessment for the DJSI family. Since we launched these indexes in 1999, we have seen continuous sustainability improvements within the corporate sector. Today, the world’s leading companies are integrating sustainability considerations into their core business. They are accounting for general as well as industry specific sustainability risks and opportunities. And they do so by setting and achieving clear and quantifiable objectives. At the same time, there remains significant room for improvement and thus wide scope for a continued strong sustainability momentum.”, said Alexander Barkawi, Managing Director, SAM Indexes.

The Italian bank, that has long prided itself for commitment to ethical banking and community values, demonstrate by its featuring on other ethical indexes such as the FTSE4Good and Ethibel. The Montepaschi group is the only Italian bank to feature on the Dow Jones Sustainability index for banking and one of only six Italian banks to feature anywhere within the index.