ASR Nederland : First € 500 million for ASR ESG IndexPlus Institutional Euro Credit Fund

The investments in the ASR ESG IndexPlus Institutional Euro Credit Fund meet the strict sustainability criteria of a.s.r. Participation in this fund enables institutional investors to combine return on investments with a clear view and implementation of environmental, social and governance aspects. The mandate of the ESG fund allows limited deviation from the benchmark for the purpose of, among others, efficient implementation of ESG criteria. The investment policy of the fund aims to achieve a 3-year rolling average return that is at least in line with the benchmark.

The sustainable investment policy for a.s.r. fixed income funds consists of positive selection, exclusions, active voting policy and engagement. Positive selection means that a.s.r. invests more in companies with a high sustainability score. a.s.r. asset management is convinced that in the long run sustainable investments will realize a better return on investment. Companies that are predominantly engaged in non-sustainable business such as production, trading and distribution of weapons, nuclear energy, tobacco and gambling are excluded. Furthermore, the companies the fund invests in must comply with international conventions in the field of human rights and labour law.

Jack Julicher, CIO at a.s.r.: 'The inflow of € 500 million in the ASR ESG IndexPlus Institutional Euro Credit Fund shows that investors believe in our sustainability policy and underpins our solid number one position in the Eerlijke Verzekeringswijzer (Fair Insurance Guide). Next to our real estate funds and our mortgage fund we now offer institutional investors an attractive asset class that contributes to a diversified investment portfolio.'

The ASR ESG IndexPlus Institutional Euro Credit Fund is the first of the new line of ESG funds to be introduced by a.s.r. asset management. This line of institutional ESG IndexPlus funds addresses the need of institutional investors for products that deviate from the benchmark only to a limited extent and allows them to realize their sustainable investment goals.

The Fair Insurance Guide has recently published its annual report, in which a.s.r. again retained a solid number one position. The Fair Insurance Guide considers two aspects: what have insurers laid down in their ESG policy about investing, and how do they implement this in practice? For more information, please see: https://eerlijkegeldwijzer.nl/verzekeringswijzer/.