Benefits
 

As an asset owner you will become licensed according to ESG4Real.

Licensing entails the following benefits:

• Access to a standard which ensures asset managers’ compliance of a base level within RI, including a balanced analysis of E, S and G. The standard allows for building further upon with individual demands
• Quality assured and certified results from a policy-, process- and reporting perspective, where the certification is conducted by a body accredited by Swedac according to ISO17065
• Potentially reduced screening costs due to the external quality assurance (the extent varies depending on how much screening you use today and decides to decrease this)
• Right to for e.g. marketing purposes communicate that your capital is invested according to ESG4Real, provided that %-share of total relevant capital that is licensed is clearly disclosed
• As ordinary member of RIA Intl. get access to forums for collaboration and best practice sharing, driven by RIA Intl. and RIA national companies and opportunity to influence the development of ESG4Real
• Link and licensing  on RIA Intl.´s website which shows your involvement and engagement in ESG4Real

Practical implications
- what do you need to do to become licensed?

As an asset owner, you are required to:

• Include the ESG4Real demands in investment policy / steering documents
• Use RI aspects as part of evaluating asset managers in addition to e.g. financial performance
• When licensed, be transparent about how much capital is ESG4Real licensed (% of total capital per relevant⁽¹⁾ asset class / investment strategy)
• Actively use reporting from asset managers and engage in case of discrepancies

Becoming licensed requires a limited work load for asset owners, who are required to participate in only 2-3 meetings to verify investment policies and process for evaluating asset managers. In calendar time, this process takes approx. 1-3 weeks depending on availability of information and key staff of the asset owner

⁽¹⁾ ESG4Real is relevant for listed equity, corporate bonds and active and enhanced indexing investment strategies. Other asset classes and pure index mandates are out of scope.

Contact a RIA company to become licensed

Benefits

As an asset manager you will become certified according to ESG4Real

Certification entails the following benefits:

• Right to communicate that you are certified by a Swedac accredited certification body, which gives independent quality assurance of that the capital is invested according to a minimum level within RI, including a balanced analysis of E, S and G
• Access to a standardised platform to develop your offering within RI from, with potentially lower development costs within the standard
• More homogenous demands from asset owners which gives opportunities for economies of scale, resulting in potentially lower operational costs
• Right to for e.g. marketing purposes communicate that your capital is managed according to ESG4Real, provided that %-share of total relevant capital that is certified is clearly disclosed
• As ordinary member of RIA Intl. get access to forums for collaboration and best practice sharing, driven by RIA Intl. and RIA national companies and opportunity to influence the development of ESG4Real
• Link and logo on RIA Intl.´s website which shows your involvement and engagement in ESG4Real

Practical implications
- what do you need to do to become certified?

As an asset manager, you are required to:

• Comply with the mandatory requirements of ESG4Real and display compliance through (1) including ESG4Real in investment policies/steering documents, (2) have documented and demonstrated processes to comply and (3) provide reporting to asset owners
• Participate in bi-yearly audits in which compliance with ESG4Real is controlled
• When certified, be transparent regarding how much capital that is ESG4Real certified (% of total AUM per relevant⁽¹⁾) asset class / investment strategy

The certification process takes 4-9 weeks during which asset managers primarily are required to participate in interviews and compile documentation to show compliance.

Contact a RIA company to become certified