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Sustainability

Examples of Corporate Exclusions

Sustainability and Exclusion Criteria

Developments and Current Exclusions under ESG Guidelines

ACATIS Fair Value applies strict sustainability and exclusion criteria to ensure ethical and environmentally conscious investments. Here, you will find an overview of the latest developments and the companies that have been excluded from our portfolio due to non-compliance with our ESG standards.

Exclusion June 2022

Korian The French company operates care facilities, rehabilitation centers for seniors, assisted living, and outpatient care services in France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. In Germany alone, it is present in more than 200 stationary and outpatient facilities. Korian no longer meets our ESG standards and has therefore been excluded from our universe and sold from our portfolios.

Exclusion June 2022

Mercedes Benz Group excluded due to arms involvement Mercedes-Benz has been involved with the Russian vehicle manufacturer KAMAZ since 2008, holding a 15% stake. KAMAZ also produces military vehicles. In March 2022, new research concluded that the carrier platforms of KAMAZ vehicles are used for cluster bombs, leading to a violation by the Mercedes Benz Group of the criterion "financing controversial weapons." These new insights, primarily derived from non-corporate secondary sources, have made it difficult to conclusively prove the involvement until now. Mercedes intends to sell its stake in KAMAZ, but this has not yet been completed. Consequently, Mercedes is excluded from the ACATIS Fair Value universe. Although we were not invested in Mercedes-Benz Group, the company is of general interest, especially in Germany.

Sustainability Criteria January 2022

At the beginning of the year, we further tightened our sustainability process. We significantly raised the minimum requirements for companies regarding a good ESG rating, as well as the stipulations related to the Global Compact.

Exclusion March 2021 
Nike was excluded from the universe and sold from the portfolios. The company has repeatedly received entries in our sustainability criterion for social standards in the supply chain. Nike is accused of contracting Chinese factories that employ forced labor programs against members of the Uighur minority. A company is excluded from the ACATIS Fair Value universe after three entries regarding this criterion. 

New Sustainability Criterion February 2021 
Since February 2021, companies involved in gas and oil extraction or those with stakes in these sectors are excluded from the ACATIS Fair Value Funds universe. We identified 390 companies in this sector. 330 of these companies were already excluded through our strict criteria in the areas of ESG and SDG. The inclusion of this new exclusion criterion completes the focus on fossil fuels in the sustainability process.

Exclusion October 2020 
Trust is a precious commodity and an essential precondition for any equity investment. We have firmly embedded the principles of good corporate governance in both our sustainability approach through ESG ratings and in the investment process under the aspect of management quality. Even if many allegations from the short seller attack may prove to be unjustified, a significant question mark remains regarding corporate governance. To date, Grenke has not been able to definitively clarify whether the firm CTP Handels- und Beteiligungsgesellschaft, which has done business with Grenke AG, has long been associated with Mr. Grenke. The explanations given in a teleconference on this matter were neither conclusive nor clear, but rather evasive. Additionally, we were displeased that ACATIS did not receive a timely phone appointment with the CFO upon request. Often, the quality of an independent management is particularly evident in times of crisis. The decision was not made lightly, but after consultation and approval by the Sustainability Advisory Board, we decided we no longer wish to be owners of Grenke, especially with our increasingly stronger focus on sustainability. Grenke was excluded from the ACATIS Fair Value universe and the titles were sold from the portfolios. 

New Sustainability Criterion January 2020 
Since early January 2020, our sustainability research agency EthiFinance has been analyzing our universe with the new exclusion criterion "Fracking": Operators and suppliers of machines and chemicals needed for oil and gas extraction via fracking are excluded. Currently, this includes 190 companies worldwide in our universe, of which over 80 were already excluded through our ESG and SDG ratings. More than 60 companies were newly included by the rating agency. The downgrade to exclusion affects about 40 companies from the previous universe. Titles from the portfolio did not have to be sold. Most of the excluded companies are from the USA and Canada.

Exclusion December 2019

Booking.com and M3 were excluded from the universe and sold from the portfolio due to insufficient ESG scores. Brookfield Asset Management and Brookfield Business Partners violate an ACATIS Fair Value exclusion criterion. Therefore, both companies have been excluded from the universe and sold from the portfolio.

Exclusion July 2019

SFC Energy AG, a leading provider of direct methanol and hydrogen fuel cells, had to be excluded from our universe and its title sold from the portfolio because its military sales significantly exceeded our tolerance limit.

Sustainability Approach Expansion April 2019

We have made a shift in perspective in our ACATIS Fair Value sustainability approach. In addition to exclusion and ESG criteria, the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are now integrated as a forward-looking criteria filter. We assess whether the company contributes positively to the SDGs through its business activities with products and services (Sustainable Goods and Services, SGS).

Exclusion January 2019

Alphabet and Visa are excluded from the universe and thus sold from the portfolio due to violations of ACATIS Fair Value exclusion criteria. Alphabet has a total of 75 controversies recorded, 26 of which are considered serious. For Visa, there are seven controversies, four of which are serious, in addition to eight related to corruption and competition prevention.

Exclusion April 2017

BMW was excluded from the universe and sold from the portfolio because an Indian supplier to a Chinese subcontractor of BMW was found to be mining mica illegally and employing children. Additionally, there were fatalities in this mine.

New Sustainability Criteria June 2016

Since the beginning of June 2016, our sustainability research agency EthiFinance has provided two new exclusion criteria for our universe: companies involved in "oil from tar sands and oil shale" and "power plant coal" are now excluded from the ACATIS Fair Value Universe. Both newly included exclusion criteria are among the world's largest CO2 emitters and environmental destroyers. The extraction of oil from the less efficient tar sands and oil shales becomes more lucrative with rising oil prices. Open-pit mining causes enormous damage to nature, including highly visible landscape destruction, severe water pollution, soil contamination by chemicals, and significant air pollution from aerosols.

Coal energy production causes particularly severe and visible air pollution in emerging and developing countries without appropriate environmental regulations, directly affecting the health of people, their food supply, and the global climate.

Many titles from these sectors were already not included in our universe as they did not meet the positive criteria required for our sustainability screening. Now, additional companies such as Anglo American (UK), Consol Energy, Teck Resources, TransAlta, Whitehaven Coal, and South32 are excluded.

Exclusion November 2016:

Ross Stores - Convention Watch for the exclusion criterion child labor in the supply chain.

Exclusion June 2016:

Exclusion of Turkey Due to the suspension of the European Convention on Human Rights and the current serious threat to human rights in the country (e.g., severe restrictions on press freedom, violation of the right to freedom and property, right to a fair trial, etc.), Turkey has been excluded from the sustainability universe. Exclusion of Volkswagen AG After the company deliberately tried to meet emission standards with software manipulations, thereby harming the environment and deceiving people, and the company's management has so far inadequately and slowly addressed these issues, the Sustainability Advisory Board decides to exclude Volkswagen AG from the sustainability universe.

Exclusion May 2016:

Inpex - Violation of the new exclusion criterion oil from tar sands and oil shale.

Exclusion October 2015:

Samsung - Convention Watch for the exclusion criterion child labor Fibria Celulose - Convention Watch for the exclusion criterion genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Exclusion September 2015:

Microsoft - Convention Watch entry for the exclusion criterion corruption Fossil - A high negative score leads to exclusion. Medivation - A high negative score leads to exclusion.

November 2013:

Berkshire Hathaway was excluded from the Fair Value Universe: The acquisition of the PVC manufacturer Lubrizol caused the negative score in our sustainability rating to be exceeded. Chlorine chemistry is involved in PVC, and the industry is considered critical in ACATIS Fair Value funds. Berkshire Hathaway was sold.

October 2013:

Apple was excluded from the Fair Value Universe: Our Sustainability Advisory Board, responding to ongoing negative media reports, reviewed the title and decided that workplace issues in the supply chain are attributable to Apple. Therefore, Apple is no longer considered investable in our sustainability equity fund and had to be sold.