SAM, EPA Victoria and The Australian commemorate the AuSSI anniversary with seminars in Sydney and Melbourne on one of the most important sustainability challenges: water scarcity 

ZURICH / MELBOURNE (Feb. 20, 2006)—SAM Group, a global leader in sustainability investing, today reported the first twelve months performance figures for the Australian SAM Sustainability Index (AuSSI). The company had launched the AuSSI in partnership with the Environment Protection Authority Victoria and The Australian on February 17, 2005 to track the stock market performance of the country's sustainability leaders. As of the closing of markets last Friday – the first anniversary of the index – the AuSSI was up by 20.8% compared to its starting level a year ago. Its first year return amounts to an outperformance against the overall market as measured by the S&P/ASX 200 of 0.7 percentage points.  

"We are delighted that the AuSSI had a solid start and that investors who tracked this index during the last twelve months have seen their sustainability focus pay off," said Alexander Barkawi, Managing Director, SAM Indexes.  

"Integrating sustainability issues into business strategy provides companies with an opportunity to lead their peers in shareholder value creation." added Bob Welsh, CEO, VicSuper – one of the superannuation funds that provides its members with an AuSSI-based investment option. "It is pleasing to see an early indication of this outperformance by the AuSSI in its first year."  

"We have managed the SAM Sustainability Leaders Australia Fund for over four years. The AuSSI has been the benchmark for the fund since its launch a year ago. In our view, it is a well-structured index that allows investors to focus their investments on sustainability leaders, without taking the extra risks often associated with concentrated portfolios," said Eric Smith, Principal and Chief Investment Officer, Vanguard Investments Australia Ltd.  

"EPA Victoria is seeing a growing conviction among corporates and investors that sustainability leadership is an essential success factor. As a founding supporter of the AuSSI, it is encouraging to see the first year performance of this index and the impetus it provides for the further adoption of resource efficiency practices in companies," said Mick Bourke, Chairman, EPA Victoria. 

The AuSSI includes Australia's leading companies from every sector based on economic, environmental and social criteria. Following this "best-in-class" approach it provides a solid platform for asset managers to invest into sustainability leaders and offers an incentive for companies to constantly improve their sustainability performance.  

"The underlying corporate assessment by SAM comprises a broad range of general as well as industry-specific sustainability criteria such as corporate governance, codes of conduct, energy consumption, CO2 emissions, water use, labor practice indicators, human resource developments and stakeholder relations," explained Francis Grey, Manager of Research, SAM Australia.  

SAM, EPA Victoria, and The Australian commemorated the AuSSI's first anniversary with a seminar in Sydney on Friday and a seminar in Melbourne earlier today. The events focused on one of the most important global sustainability challenges – in particular from an Australian perspective: water scarcity. Speakers addressed the growing need for analysts and investors to account for corporate exposure to water problems and evaluate the possible responses of business. Water efficiency and other measures to safeguard water resources were seen as crucial criteria for the long-term success of companies. At the same time, presenters referred to the investment opportunities in the water sector. 

"There are attractive opportunities for investors to seek exposure along the water value chain. The sector is experiencing particularly high growth as a result of the expanding demand for innovative water technologies and infrastructure" said Roland Pfeuti, Head Institutional Clients, SAM Australia.  

060220_sam_aussi.pdf [98 KB]