Rabobank in business

Rabo Green Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rabobank Nederland, finances environmentally-friendly projects that qualify as so called "green projects" with the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. These green projects are financed at below-market rates that are made possible by fiscal advantages. In this way project owners are stimulated to invest in an environmentally friendly way.

Rabo Green Bank issues so-called Rabo Green Bonds, which offer Dutch retail investors tax free interest income. Rabo Green Bank is able to offer a lower gross interest rate on these bonds. Therefore Rabo Green Bank has relatively cheap funding sources. In this way tax advantages are passed on to businesses which invest in an environmentally-friendly way.

Robeco's Clean Tech Private Equity Fund invests worldwide through private equity funds (but also directly together with these funds) in non-listed companies which are active in the clean tech segment. This segment spans a range of different technologies from alternative energy to water purification to waste reduction. In addition, clean tech can be found in IT, biotechnology and nanotech, as long as the technology is focused on more efficient use of natural resources. The Clean Tech Fund is only available to institutional investors. The Robeco Clean Tech Certificate offers other investors an easy way to take a share.

'Robeco Duurzaam Aandelen' stands for socially responsible investing, which is to say, investing in companies that focus on people, planet and profit. Companies that operate in a sustainable way do so with a strong view to the future and therefore often realise excellent profits. Robeco Duurzaam Aandelen selects its stocks very carefully, and is the first Dutch investment fund to be given a verification report by KPMG Sustainability.

The Robeco Sustainable Private Equity Fund of Funds invests in funds that, in turn, invest in companies operating in sustainable sectors, such as renewable energy, water and environmental technologies. The Fund also invests in standard funds, calling companies to account for their CSR performance in order to achieve better investment results. The Robeco Sustainable Private Equity Fund of Funds, which applies the responsible entrepreneurship guidelines developed by Rabobank and Robeco, is intended mainly for institutional clients, foundations, charities and wealthy individuals.

Robeco anticipates that investors, when making their investment choices, will increasingly consider the quality of a company’s corporate governance framework and CSR performance. Our asset management subsidiary believes that this concern for CSR in investment practices will eventually lead to higher share prices. As a consequence of this growing interest in CSR investing, Robeco is increasingly being asked by clients both to vote on their behalf at shareholders’ meetings and to engage in dialogue on CSR issues with the companies involved. These activities constitute what we call “engagement.” Unlike in the case of investment in sustainable equity funds, the process of engagement does not exclude any particular trade or industry. Engagement with CSR issues in investment is an important new concept and activity.  Robeco believes that engagement will become a prerequisite for playing a serious role in asset management. Currently, the focus of our engagement is businesses in which Robeco holds substantial investments, businesses in which it is a major shareholder, and/or businesses which are faced with sustainability or corporate governance issues that can be addressed by the company’s management.

Robeco also endeavours to influence the corporate governance framework and CSR performance of companies by making active use of its voting rights.
For further information please see: http://www.robeco.com/institutional/eng/corporate/static/voting.jsp

SAM is one of the world's leading institutions in the area of sustainability investments. In this area SAM offers: the SAM Sustainable Leaders Fund, the SAM Smart Materials Fund, the SAM Sustainable Water Fund, the SAM Smart Energy Fund, the SAM Sustainable European Equity Fund and the SAM Sustainable Global Equity Fund. SAM's Sustainable Performance Group invests both in selected sustainability leaders and in attractive small and mid-caps.

Bank Sarasin is both one of the world’s market leaders and trendsetters in sustainable investment: Sarasin launched the world’s first investment fund based on the concept of eco-efficiency back in 1994. It started including social factors in its sustainability rating as early as 1997. And it already boasts several years’ experience in analysing the sustainability performance of public-sector debt issuers, which very few other providers can rival. For Dutch investors Bank Sarasin offers the following sustainable investment funds: Sarasin New Power Fund, Sarasin OekoSar Equity, Sarasin OekoSar Portfolio, Sarasin Sustainable Bond EUR, Sarasin Sustainable Equity , Sarasin Sustainable Water Fund.