To make it easier for savers to find and choose funds that affect companies in a sustainable direction, the Nordic Swan Ecolabelling is now also available for funds.
"With the Swan label, investors will see which mutual funds that can handle tough sustainability requirements and which have the potential to influence businesses in a more sustainable direction. I'm pleased to see that we already have so many committed players on our journey towards a greener financial market", says Ragnar Unge, CEO of Ecolabelling Sweden.
A Swan-labelled fund must meet comprehensive sustainability requirements regarding, for example, which companies the fund managers can invest in and which companies they exclude. In addition, it is important that the fund managers and companies that the fund invests in report how they work with sustainability.
The fund excludes companies involved with controversial weapons, coal, gas, oil and uranium and tobacco and genetically modified crops. The fund also has criteria on nuclear weapons, international norms, alcohol, pornography, games and conventional weapons.
Caroline Forsberg (left in the photo) says that SEB already had great emphasis on the sustainability analysis of SEB Hållbarhetsfond Sverige even before the nomination.
"For some time we have managed the fund based on an investment process and strategy with a clear focus on the companies' sustainability efforts. In addition to our requirements that the companies that the fund invests in have clear and integrated sustainability work with measurable goals, we continuously have dialogues with them about sustainability.
"Many companies appreciate that we show commitment and choose to discuss sustainability issues with them. An increased awareness regarding sustainability aspects is important and is likely to affect companies' profitability in the future."
SEB Hållbarhetsfond Sverige is also included in SEB's unit linked insurance fund offering.