Asia Index launches S&P BSE 100 ESG Index

Mumbai: Asia Index Private Ltd, a joint venture of S&P Dow Jones Indices and BSE on Thursday announced the launch of an environmental, social and governance (ESG) index to measure the exposure to securities meeting sustainability investing criteria.

The S&P BSE 100 ESG Index, which uses the S&P BSE 100 as its universe, excludes all tobacco producing companies, as well as companies with tobacco sales greater than 10 per cent.

It also excludes all companies producing controversial weapons and all companies at or below the bottom 5 per cent of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) score.

"S&P BSE 100 ESG Index is designed to measure the exposure to securities meeting sustainability investing criteria while maintaining a risk and performance profile similar to the S&P BSE 100 Index," Asia Index said in a statement.

The index is rebalanced annually in June and is weighted by float adjusted market capitalisation and is calculated in Indian rupees and US dollars.

"We are proud to bring the S&P BSE 100 ESG Index to the market and help propel the participation of the Indian capital markets in ESG investment strategies," Asia Index CEO Alka Banerjee said.

Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO of BSE added that the exchange is looking forward to this index helping attract ESG-Focused investors.