Nordea’s guidelines for socially responsible investments
Nordea has defined a structured process and guidelines for socially responsible investment (SRI). As one of the first major banks in the Nordic market, Nordea* in November 2007 signed the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI).
Identification and active ownership
Nordea’s main guidelines for socially responsible investment:
- Identify companies in our fund portfolios that violate the UN Global Compact and international norms for corporate responsibility.
- Exercise active ownership, among other things through dialogue, to change behaviour that is violating the norms.
- Divest in companies if it is not possible to achieve change through active ownership.
Nordea believes that active ownership is a more responsible behaviour than exclusion, and also better for customers' earnings. This is in line with the UN's recommendations and the international trend of responsible investment.
Signing the UNPRI means that Nordea considers the UN’s Global Compact in its investment analyses and decision-making processes.
The UN’s Global Compact considers the following:
- Human rights
- Labour standards
- The environment
- Anti-corruption
Cooperation partners
Nordea is an expert on asset management rather than on human rights, labour conditions, the environment and anti-corruption. We therefore cooperate with Ethix and Hermes who are experts on SRI. They help us identify companies that violate the international norms for corporate responsibility, and work to change the attitude of these companies.
We outsource the identification and involvement, not the decision-making responsibility.
*) the Nordea fund companies in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and Nordea Investment Management