WIG-ESG

WIG-ESG

The WIG-ESG index has been published since September 3, 2019, based on the value of the portfolio of shares of companies recognized as socially responsible, i.e. those that comply with the principles of socially responsible business, in particular in the field of environmental, social, economic and corporate governance issues. The base value of the index was determined as at December 28, 2018 and amounted to 10,000.00 points. WIG-ESG is an income index, which means that when calculating it, both transaction prices and dividend income are taken into account. The share of one company in the index is limited to 10%, while the total share of companies, each of which exceeds 5%, is limited to 40%.

WIG-ESG will include companies in the WIG20 and mWIG40 indices, i.e. the largest companies listed on the WSE. The weights of companies in the index will, as in the case of other indexes, depend on the number of free float shares, adjusted based on the ESG ranking and assessment of the application of the principles of "Good Practices of WSE Listed Companies 2016".

Due to the dynamically developing market of socially responsible investing, the WSE has introduced the WIG-ESG index in exchange for the current Respect Index. In this regard, it has started cooperation with the independent company Sustainalytics, which has an international reputation and provides ESG data for the largest investment and index companies in the world. The goal of the WIG-ESG index is to create an investment product in cooperation with NN Investment Partners TFI. It will be a fund that pays special attention to the ESG issue when building its investment portfolio.

The ESG ranking of companies, which is one of the criteria for determining weights in the index, will be based on Sustainalytics reports. Sustainalytics, an international company specializing in providing services in the area of ??ESG, determines the scoring of companies on the basis of publicly available information published by companies. The following data are analyzed: annual reports of companies, reports containing non-financial data, information provided on websites. The Sustainalytics methodology assesses ESG risk, i.e. measures the industry's exposure to specific risks related to ESG criteria and assessment how a given company manages these risks. Global companies that calculate indexes and institutions that invest in global capital markets use Sustainalytics.

Shares of companies in the index will also depend on the level of application of corporate governance principles contained in the "Good Practices of WSE Listed Companies 2016". Based on the published statements of companies in this regard, the Stock Exchange will grant companies weights depending on the number of principles applied and the quality of published statements.

Index information will be provided every minute from the beginning to the end of the session. In addition, the share of the largest companies will be limited to the limits resulting from the 5/10/40 rule (the largest company up to 10%, companies weighing over 5% may not in total exceed 40% in the index). WIG-ESG will be an income index. The first product based on the WIG-ESG index will be the NN Investment Partners TFI fund.

NN Fund Responsible Index will be created from the transformation of the NN Akcji 2 fund, whose assets reach PLN 1.6 billion. Therefore, the criterion of liquidity and the size of companies is of key importance when calculating the WIG-ESG index.

The WSE has been promoting the highest standards in ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) among listed companies for years. So far, the WSE has published the RESPECT Index, which for 10 years of operation met its educational assumptions. With the publication of the WIG-ESG index, we will launch an index with a very strong investment target. By the end of 2019, the WSE will publish the WIG-ESG and RESPECT Index simultaneously, and from January 1, 2020, only the WIG-ESG will be published.