Econopolis “walks the talk” when it comes to sustainability

As most of our readers and partners know, Econopolis was born out of our unique vision of the (financial) world, economy and society. Since our launch, we translate this vision in our own investment principles. Independent of the “flavour of the day”. These are not hollow words, but steady principles that are put into concrete action. Which we recently did when a conservative think tank brought forward a motion in the run up to the annual shareholding meeting at Apple to cease its DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) efforts.

Sustainability and transparency are at the core of our existence since the launch of Econopolis 15 years ago. All details of our approach regarding sustainability can be found on our website (https://www.econopolis.be/en/sustainability-information/). Broadly speaking, we apply several approaches on top of each other.

• First and foremost, we exclude a list of companies and activities from our investment universe based upon internationally-renowned lists (i.e. the Norwegian Pension Fund Exclusion List) and principles (i.e. UN Global Compact Principles).
• Secondly, we apply strict ESG criteria based on independent ESG rating agencies (i.e. Clarity AI) to ensure that only the best companies in terms of ESG are eligible for our portfolios.
• Thirdly, our investment funds all have both an environmental (climate change mitigation) and social (promoting diversity at the highest level) objective in terms of the European SFDR regulation.

However, our sustainability approach goes broader than just applying ESG rules. We go one step further and also create an active dialogue with the companies we invest in. We are in regular contact with these companies, engaging on key considerations, often at a management level. These can be financial, but also with respect to corporate governance, social matters or environmental impact. To ensure that companies act in line with our principles, we also actively vote on proposals in shareholder meetings. As we are conscious of our size and to create maximum impact, we collaborate with other investors via proxy voting platforms. On these platforms, we regularly cast our votes on topics ranging from governance to social rights to climate impact.

Our principles translate into concrete actions, as mentioned in the beginning of this article. Independent of what is currently popular in political midst. For example, we recently cast our vote in the run up to Apple’s annual shareholder meeting. We did so on a range of topics, but the most striking topic was a proposal by a conservative thinktank to abolish Apple’s DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies. These are strategies and practices put in place by companies such as Apple to promote a more inclusive and fairer environment for all individuals, regardless of their background. Under CEO Tim Cook Apple began to emphasize diversity and inclusion as core values. Hence, Apple itself is opposing this motion. This seems straightforward, but it is not in the current political environment. In fact, Apple is currently one of the few holdouts. Many large companies such as Meta, Pepsi, Google, Amazon and General Motors recently rolled back DEI policies in order to avoid hostility from the US president Donald Trump and its administration. Trump launched a series of executive orders aimed at dismantling DEI programs across the federal and private sector. From the conservative side, there has been much pushback against such initiatives, labelling them as “woke” or “illegal” or even blaming the handling of recent deadly Californian wildfires and a Washington air crash on DEI policies in the hiring process. Which is unfortunate, as there are many studies finding a positive link between diversity and financial performance.

While we understand that large companies have to walk a tight rope in the current political climate in the United States, this does not mean that Econopolis blindly agrees to everything. As per usual, we analyzed the situation and applied our own and independent policy when analyzing this situation. As mentioned earlier in the article, promoting diversity is a key factor of our overall approach towards to sustainability. This will not change because the US political climate is changing. It is therefore that we voted against the proposal to cease Apple’s DEI efforts. Which helped, as in the end the majority of the voting shareholders rejected the proposal to scrap Apple’s DEI policies.

We were a frontrunner at our launch 15 years ago when it came to ESG and sustainability way before it became a wide industry-adopted standard. We will still be a sustainability leader even when that industry retreats or adepts in light of a new political shift when ESG might be temporally out of fashion.