Sustainable investing —

Green and social change creates opportunities for investors

At VP Bank, sustainability criteria, such as our best-in-class-approach, have long been an integral part of our careful selection of individual investments and funds. Such criteria are also part of our considerations when constructing a portfolio. Sustainable Plus gives you an opportunity to go one step further and also integrate thematic investments or impact investments into your portfolio. Thematic investments allow you to invest specifically in companies whose products or services help to reduce emissions, e.g. renewable energy, or protect the environment. Bonds used to finance green and social objects are another option. Tangible impact in the areas of climate protection and social change is achieved with such impact investments (green bonds, social bonds or microfinance investments).

What is sustainable investing?

There are various approaches to sustainable investing. At VP Bank, we have found a comprehensive approach to asset management that combines various aspects and, above all, gives investors easy access to sustainable investments.

Our approach is based on the VP Bank Sustainability Score. It uses various criteria such as the ESG rating to gauge the degree of sustainability in an investment. Our recommendations meet a minimum level of sustainability without clients having to use a separate service or buy a fund. The VP Bank Sustainability Score is used to reduce risks and, at the same time, seize opportunities.

Investors who want to promote ecological and social causes with their financial investments, as this is in line with their personal values, go further. VP Bank has created Sustainable Plus for this purpose. The offer includes thematic investments, which are usually included in the portfolio by way of sustainable funds. Or investors may want to make a tangible difference through impact investments.

We offer to make a difference with your investment and generate income at the same time. Philanthropy goes one step further, where the only thing that matters is the positive effect.

The VP Bank Sustainability Score (VPSS)

Because sustainability and good corporate governance are particularly important to us, we developed our own sustainability score, the VP Bank Sustainability Score. The score allows you to better assess how your portfolio is aligned in terms of sustainability. This specially developed evaluation procedure takes into account several dimensions (such as the best-in-class-approach) as well as exclusion criteria and thus enables a comparison between different asset classes and financial products. This also allows us to constantly monitor the overall portfolio in terms of sustainability.

By developing and applying our own sustainability score, we are differentiating ourselves fundamentally from other providers. We do not treat sustainability as a product, but we consistently incorporate it into our investment processes. When selecting shares, bonds and funds, sustainability criteria extend our analysis of opportunities and risks. With our VP Bank Sustainability Score, we create transparency, and clients can clearly see how their portfolio is aligned in terms of sustainability.  

Sustainably oriented investment solutions

We are convinced that the consideration of sustainability criteria leads to better investment results. Therefore, sustainability is not just one solution among many others. We consider sustainability criteria in all our portfolio solutions, building blocks and product selection. We offer you various ways of addressing the issue of sustainability in your portfolio:

• Single investments with strong sustainability profile
• Taking ESG funds into account
• Addition of thematic investments (e.g. climate protection or demography)
• Integration of impact investments (green bonds, social bonds or microfinance investments)
• Specification of your sustainability preferences
• Selection of investments with a better sustainability profile

We also provide our own products that are in line with our philosophy. The VP Bank Risk Optimised ESG Funds, for example, are based on VP Bank’s sustainability approach and combine sustainability criteria with a risk-optimised investment style. The Green City investment theme provides opportunities to invest in sustainable urbanisation.

Read more about

• VP Bank Risk Optimised ESG Funds
• Green City Basket