Two new sustainability indices launched by Swiss and Canadian exchanges

Two new sustainability indices have been separately launched by stock exchanges in Canada and Switzerland.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has teamed up with S&P Dow Jones Indices and RobecoSAM to launch its new S&P/TSX 60 ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) index.

It’s designed to track the main market benchmark, the S&P/TSX 60, while taking into account constituent companies’ sustainability performance relative to industry-specific standards, based on RobecoSAM’s analysis.

The new offering is designed for users of the S&P/TSX 60 who are looking to “deepen the scope of their stock analysis to include sustainability criteria”.Meanwhile, the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich has introduced a new index encompassing the 25 most sustainable shares from the SMI Expanded Index, called the SXI Switzerland Sustainability 25 Index.

The exchange says every company on the new index is “audited for sustainability and rated” by research partner Sustainalytics.

The top five constituents in the index are Novartis, Nestle, Roche, UBS and ABB. Daily historical data goes back to December 30, 2008.

Based on this data, the index has returned 10.02% (on a total return basis) over the year to date, 16.48% over the one-year view and 16.03% over three years.

The index is weighted based on free-float market cap, with a single component’s weight capped at 15%; it is reviewed annually in September.