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ETHIBEL: The Collective European
Quality Label
for Socially Responsible Investment Funds
    
Investment
funds calling themselves “socially responsible”,
"green" or "ethical" are the subject of
increasing interest. What companies do these funds actually
invest in? Based on what criteria are these companies selected?
Do the banks stick to what they promise? Is there any control
over this?
ETHIBEL’s European quality label for socially responsible
investment funds is a registered collective quality label,
that was originally registered for the Benelux and now for
all the countries of the European Union. This label offers
the investor a real guarantee that these investment funds
only invest in companies selected on the basis of ETHIBEL’s
comprehensive evaluation model.
When it comes to portfolio composition, these may only include
shares and bonds included in ETHIBEL's investment
register.
For the composition of this register, ETHIBEL looks for companies
that are trend-setters in the field of social responsible
entrepreneurship in their respective sector
and region. Every company will go through a strict selection
procedure. The evaluation is done by an independent committee
of experts based on an extensive investigation.
Pivotal in the investigation is communication with the company
and with the stakeholders.
This ‘sustainability screening’ requires a special
expertise that banks and other financial institutions usually
do not have. By using the ETHIBEL label, banks and other providers
of "sustainable" funds in Europe make it clear to
their customers that their funds are regularly verified by
this independent organisation.
The responsibility of fund managers lies in drawing up an
investment portfolio composed of financially analysed companies.
They select those companies from ETHIBEL's investment register
that, from a financial and economic point of view and based
on the objectives of their specific fund, would offer the
best guarantee for a good return in relation to the calculated
risk. The result of this co-operation is high quality investment
funds that would guarantee sustainable investment with
a financial, social and ecological yield.
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