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Daiwa SRI Fund Investment Trust to be Launched

26 April, 2004

Press Release:
Daiwa Asset Management Co. Ltd.
Integrex Inc.

Daiwa Securities and Daiwa Securities SMBC will begin sales on May 10 of the new Daiwa SRI Fund investment trust established by Daiwa Asset Management Co. Ltd.

The investment universe for the new Daiwa SRI Fund will be a group of companies selected based on advice from Integrex Inc., a firm that screens and evaluates corporations quantitatively and ranks them based on their corporate social responsibility (CSR). Based on a list of corporations that Integrex provides, the new fund will select and invest in the stocks of companies expected to grow based on their business performances.

[Main Features of New Fund]
Evaluates Environmental Measures and Social Contributions, and also Management Systems

Domestically, there are approximately ten SRI funds being sold today. However, these are evaluated based primarily on environmental and general societal concerns, such as employment measures, human rights, handling of customers and business associates, and contributions to society. The Daiwa SRI Fund will evaluate corporations based not only on their environmental measures and social contributions but also on top management's commitment, degree of transparency, and the corporation’s ethics compliance management system. It will thus use CSR evaluation standards that have management systems as their principal evaluation targets.

CSR Evaluation Standards Gain Attention for being Uniquely Japanese

The Daiwa SRI Fund utilizes the R-bec001 questionnaire series for integrity screening as its CSR evaluation standards. As its base, the R-bec001 uses the ECS2000 ethics compliance management system standard developed by a group headed by Professor Iwao Taka of Reitaku University. At present, the standardization of CSR is being discussed at the ISO* and in Japan. As a uniquely Japanese CSR standard, the ECS2000 standard is gaining attention both in Japan and overseas.

*ISO = The International Organization for Standardization is a network of the national standards institutes of over 140 countries. It is a non-governmental organization that produces standards for the private sector. It was founded in 1947; its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.

Largest Investment Universe among SRI Funds that Invest in Domestic Stocks

A questionnaire was sent to about 3,600 listed companies in Japan, and a survey and analysis for CSR quantitative evaluation was conducted on 877 of those companies (as of the end of March 2004). Among SRI funds focusing on investment in the stocks of domestic companies, the Daiwa SRI Fund is considered to have the largest investment universe. Funds with small investment universes cannot benefit from the effects of diversifying their investments, resulting in a negative effect on their operation performance. Integrex began conducting CSR surveys in 2001 and has now accumulated three years of survey and analysis data on companies in Japan.

[Daiwa Securities Group's Approach to CSR]

In its approach to CSR the Daiwa Securities Group emphasizes that “CSR should be promoted in terms of our principal business being the securities industry.” In order to realize the development of a sustainable society, the power of capital must be used properly. As an important way of doing that the Daiwa Securities Group is promoting the enhancement of SRI funds. And the Daiwa SRI Fund will play a central role in this strategy. For further information regarding the Daiwa Securities Group SRI Fund, please visit the CSR / Brand Management website: http://www.branding.daiwa.co.jp/  (Japanese only).

The companies in the Daiwa Securities Group plan to include the Daiwa SRI Fund in its defined-contribution pension scheme (Japanese 401k). Daiwa Securities, Daiwa Securities SMBC and Daiwa Asset Management plan to donate a portion of their annual trust remuneration to organizations related to the aims of the Daiwa SRI Fund.

[About IntegreX]

Company name: Integrex Inc. (its name represents "Integrity" + "X" for Screening)
Establishment: June 2001
Capital: 60,000,000 yen (held entirely by individual stakeholders)
President: One Akiyama
Business:
  = -> SRI (Socially Responsible Investments):
          Integrity-based SRI research
          Investment advisory service (pension fund, investment trust, etc.)
          (Registration #1031; Chief, Kanto Financial Affairs Bureau)
          Promotion of SRI (lecture, publication, etc.)
  = -> CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility):
          IntegreX Hotline
          Employee ethics and compliance survey (compliance monitoring)
          Promotion of CSR (lecture, training, publication, etc.)

Address: KBK Building 3F, 7-2, Ebisu 4-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Contact: Tel: (03) 5793-3205  Fax: (03) 5793-3207 
E-mail: info@integrex.jp
Website: http://www.integrex.jp