New EU rules for sustainable investments – what does this mean for you?
More and more people want to ensure that their investments are responsible and support sustainable conditions. Read more about EU’s new regulations on sustainable investments and what this means to you as an investor.
The purpose of the EU’s new regulations on sustainable investments is, among other things, to increase interest in sustainable and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment products. The regulations came into force from 10 March 2021 and are intended to provide transparency for investors and hereby counter greenwashing – i.e. the practice whereby a provider of an investment product gives the false impression that the product is more sustainable than it actually is.
In future, investment products must meet certain criteria in order to be marketed as sustainable or ESG investments. This applies to funds, pension solutions and investment solutions for which Danske Bank makes investments on behalf of our customers. Specifically, this means that it will be easier for you as an investor to see when an investment product is a sustainable investment or an ESG investment.
Read more about our investment solutions and how our solutions meet the new EU regulations
What is the difference between sustainable investment products and ESG investment products?
Sustainable investment products
Investment products with a sustainable investment objective are
called Sustainable investment products. These
products invest in activities aimed at solving some of the challenges facing the planet and contributing to
a more sustainable society. For example, the product’s investments have a low climate impact, or it invests
in activities to ensure clean drinking water, reduce energy consumption, increase biodiversity, reduce
pollution or ensure greater social equality. Also, the investments in a Sustainable investment product do
not have major adverse effects on other sustainable goals.
Sustainable investment products comply with Article 9 of the EU regulation on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector.
Read more about the sustainable investment products we offer
ESG investment products
Investment products that promote environmental or social issues and ensure
good governance practices (ESG)
are called ESG investment products. These products promote ESG by investing, for example, in companies that
focus on climate and employee conditions, diversity or anti-corruption activities. They can also work
actively to influence companies to become more sustainable or to refrain from investing in companies that
have a large and detrimental climate impact.
Our ESG investment products comply with Article 8 of the EU regulation on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector.
What do the regulations mean for your investments with us?
If you have investments with us, we will contact you if the new regulations or other initiatives affect you directly, for example if we change the name of a fund you have invested in. You do not have to do anything.
New labels for Danske Invest funds
If you invest in funds from Danske Invest, you will in the future come across new labels that show you that a fund meets the criteria for sustainable investment products or for ESG investments. The labels replace our previous product labels – ESG Inside – and they make it easy for you to see which criteria the funds in Danske Invest fulfill.
Read more about the funds we offer here
Responsible investments – a developing area
For many years, Danske Bank has been working to integrate ESG risks into our investment processes. We are also working on being able to offer our customers an increasing number of responsible investment products in the coming years within the framework of the new EU legislation.
You can read more about our investment processes here
In the years to come, more investment initiatives will be taken by the EU – initiatives that in the long term will support sustainable development and make it more transparent and attractive for you as an investor to invest responsibly.
Our Responsible Investment Policy
To accommodate the new EU rules, we are changing our Sustainable Investment Policy. In future, the policy will be called the Responsible Investment Policy and will detail:
- how we integrate sustainability risks into our investment processes and in the selection of investment products made available to advisers when they meet customers
- our requirements for sustainable investment and ESG investment products
- how we continue to use active ownership to shape the companies of the future and drive society in a more responsible and sustainable direction.
- how screening and investment restrictions are used as tools in our work to reduce sustainability risks and to select investments that can deliver attractive and long-term returns
