| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Products | Asset Management, Indexes, Private Equity |
| Employees | 100 |
| Parent | Robeco |
| Website | www.sam-group.com |
Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) is an international investment company with a specific focus on sustainability investments[1]. The company is based in Zurich, Switzerland and considers economic, environmental and social criteria in its investment strategies. In addition to asset management, the company has an indexes and private equity portion of the business[2]. SAM has a series of products based on themes such as water, energy, climate, agriculture, and healthy living[3]. In 2006 SAM introduced a division called sustainability services that provides sustainability benchmarking reports to companies[4]. In 2001, SAM became the first carbon neutral company in Switzerland[5].
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The company was founded by Reto Ringger in 1995 as the world’s first investment company focused solely on sustainability themes[6]. The headquarters are in Zurich, Switzerland and SAM has approximately 100 employees[7]. Its parent company is the Dutch based Robeco, which is a subsidiary of Rabobank. Rabobank is a AAA rated bank by Standard & Poor's.
1995 Reto Ringger founds SAM
1999 SAM and Dow Jones launch the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes
2001 First global sustainable water fund launched (SAM Sustainable Water Fund)
2001 SAM becomes first Carbon Neutral company in Switzerland
2003 SAM Smart Energy Fund launched[8]
2006 Acquired by Robeco
2009 Integration of Robeco SAM Clean Tech Private Equity at SAM’s headquarters
2010 SAM named SRI/Sustainable Investment Manager of the Year[9] by Financial News
2010 Robeco Switzerland merges with SAM[10]
2011 SAM manages SAM Sustainable Agribusiness Equities Fund and SAM Sustainable European Equities Fund[11][4]
The company’s total assets amount to about USD 16.4 billion.[4]
The main areas of business are: asset management, indexes, private equity and sustainability services (company benchmarking reports)[12][13].
In 1999, SAM and Dow Jones Indexes came together to produce the world’s first sustainability indexes known as the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI)[14]. The DJSI include broad, blue chip, single theme and multi-theme indexes. Many major global companies, such as Akzo Nobel and TNT N.V., have linked top-management remuneration to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index[15][16].
The asset management business is based purely on investing in sustainable companies. Although SAM refers to it as Sustainability Investing, this is often referred to in the mainstream as Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). Sustainable investing is based on the assumption that financial markets represent a powerful mechanism to promote sustainable business practices. Proponents of sustainable investing say that integrating sustainability considerations into investment decisions can lead to superior risk-adjusted returns over the long term[17].
SAM has theme strategies based on major sustainability trends such as water, energy, materials, and climate. It also has core regional products such as a sustainable global active fund and a sustainable europe active fund[18][19]. The SAM Sustainable Water Fund received a lot of recognition as it was one of the first of its kind to be launched in 2001[20] and it recently celebrated its 10th Anniversary.[4]
SAM houses the clean tech private equity team of its parent company Robeco, which is a member of Rabobank[21]. The concept of clean tech investing is based on a world that is characterized by rapid population growth, finite natural resources, high prices and material shortages; all of which call for more efficient production processes. Investments include products, services, and processes across industry verticals that are designed to improve the productive and responsible use of natural resources, greatly reduce or eliminate negative environmental impacts and provide superior performance at lower costs.[22]
SAM Clean Tech Private Equity invests in sustainable private equity through co-investments in unlisted companies or through private equity fund of funds. Since 2004, they have been integrating the ESG framework into investment process. Investment & Pensions Europe (IPE) named SAM Private Equity as the most Responsible European Private Equity investor.[23]
The table below demonstrates some examples of clean tech sectors and technologies:
| Sectors | Clean Technology Examples |
|---|---|
| Energy Generation | Wind, Solar, Hydro, Marine, Biofuels, Geothermal, Clean Coal Technologies, Coal Bed Methane |
| Energy Storage | Fuel Cells, Advanced Batteries, hybrid systems |
| Energy Infrastructure | Management, smart grids, Transmission |
| Energy Efficiency | Lighting, Buildings, Glass, ESCOs, Combined Heat & Power |
| Transportation | Structures, Fuels, Hydrogen Highways, Biofuel Distribution, Electric Vehicles, Vehicle Sharing |
| Water & Wastewater | Water Treatment, Water Conservation, Wastewater Treatment, Desalination |
| Air & Environment | Cleanup/Safety, Emissions Control, Monitoring/Compliance, Carbon Capture, SOX/NOX Removal |
| Materials | Nano, Bio, Chemical |
| Manufacturing/Industrial | Advanced Packaging, Monitoring & Control, Smart Production |
| Agriculture | Natural Pesticides, Land Management, Aquaculture |
| Recycling & Waste | Recycling, Waste Treatment |
In 2006, SAM founded a sustainability services division. Sustainability services provides company benchmarking reports[25] that provide companies with details about their individual sustainability performance as well as a peer group comparison[26]. Companies can see their strengths and weaknesses mapped against sustainability criterion and compared to best practice examples.[4]
SAM’s asset management, index and sustainability services are all rooted in its proprietary in-house research division. The financial analysts generate stock recommendations based on a combination of financial sustainability criteria.
The Research team develops the methodology for the annual corporate sustainability assessment that is used to determine the Dow Jones Sustainability Index[27]. SAM research has been analyzing companies along sustainability metrics since 1995 and has developed one of the largest global corporate sustainability databases. The research department often collaborates with academia to share the valuable data from this proprietary database. Ongoing collaborations include projects with ETH and IESE Business School.
The corporate sustainability assessment is an industry-specific questionnaire that is sent out to the 2,500 largest corporations. Accordingly, SAM annually assesses around 2,000 of the world's largest companies over 58 market sectors and determines their respective sustainability rating[28]. The assessment examines companies based on environmental social and corporate governance factors (ESG factors), which serve as the primary basis for determining a company's level of sustainability and subsequent global impact[29]. The questionnaire has a focus on long-term sustainability topics that are relevant to each industry including human capital, brands and innovation. Some of the sectors they look at include: airlines, communication technology, beverages, auto parts & tires, waste & disposal services, and electricity[30]. After the assessment, each participating company receives a peer benchmarking analysis[31].
The family of Dow Jones Sustainability Index are based on the results of the corporate sustainability assessment[32]. In a 2010 report, Rate the Raters identified the methodology used for the construction of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as the most credible sustainability rating approach out of over 100 rating organizations that were surveyed by SustainAbility[33].
Much of the data derived from the corporate sustainability assessment is used in SAM's financial analysis. The data is integrated into the valuation models. Full integration of sustainability into valuation analysis is a differing approach to using data as a sustainability overlay. Advocates of the integration approach state that it is a more accurate reflection of the companies value as it takes into account the various ways in which sustainability factors have an impact on different business models and cost structures[34][35].
Also from the results of the corporate sustainability assessment, SAM produces a "Sustainability Yearbook"[36] in which they announce the companies that have been ranked as sustainability "sector leaders" and/or "sector movers". They also give a small number of companies a classification of gold, silver or bronze to recognize their added commitment to sustainability issues[37]. Sector leaders in the past have included: Adidas, BMW, Nokia, Panasonic, PepsiCo, Pirelli, and Rolls-Royce Group plc. Sector movers in the past have included: Air France, Fiat, Hormel, IBM, Mitsubishi, and Starbucks.
SAM is a member of the following organizations[41]:
In 2001, SAM and Sustainable Performance Group (SPG)[43] founded the sustainability leadership award. The award ran from 2001–2010 and was presented annually to a chosen sustainability leader and pioneer[44].
It was founded under the belief that individuals who place a great importance and effort to promote sustainability in the workplace should be publicly recognized[45].
Previous award winners include: