OREANDA-NEWS.  A new index is being launched today on SIX Swiss Exchange that takes account of compliance with corporate governance principles.

From today, SIX Swiss Exchange will be calculating the Ethos Swiss Corporate Governance Index on behalf of Ethos. The new index measures the returns on selected stocks from the basic universe of the Swiss Performance Index (SPI) taking into account best practice requirements in terms of corporate governance defined by Ethos.

Ethos is a foundation established by Swiss pension funds with the aim of promoting sustainable investment. The foundation currently comprises 216 pension funds and is committed to a stable and sound economic environment that safeguards the long-term interests of society as a whole. Ethos aims to use the new index to raise awareness of specific corporate governance risks. Based on its corporate governance principles, Ethos will apply the following criteria to the index's composition and weighting:

  • Companies that do not apply best governance practices will be underweighted or excluded from the index.
  • Companies with substantial CO2 emissions will be underweighted.
  • Companies that are subject to serious controversy will not be overweighted.
  • Companies will not be overweighted if they constitute more than 15% of the basic universe on the date of the annual review.
  • Companies that do not fall into any of the above categories will be overweighted.

Vincent Kaufmann, Director of the Ethos Foundation, on the introduction of the new index: "We are pleased that we are able to mark our 20-year anniversary by joining with SIX Swiss Exchange in launching the Ethos Swiss Corporate Governance Index. The index simplifies the calculation and replication of our indexed corporate governance fund. At the same time, the index offers an alternative approach for investors."