Cardano’s Sustainable Investment Policy

Our Sustainable Investment Policy  outlines our vision on sustainable investing, why it  is necessary, areas to focus on and how to do it. This document describes how we integrate sustainability throughout all activities of Cardano.

Appendix A: Sustainable Investment framework

In this document we provide a detailed description of how we classify all companies, sovereigns and institutions and how this impacts whether they fit in one of our investment solutions. We describe whether companies’ activities fit in a sustainable society and whether companies have the capacity to adapt to the ongoing transitions we are seeing.

Appendix B: Impact Investment policy

This policy describes our vision on impact investment. It outlines the importance of financial institutions investing in impact solutions and how we as an investor can help companies to increase their positive impact.

Appendix C: Stewardship policy

This policy outlines how we see effective stewardship. It describes how we see the importance of engagement, which tools we use to work with companies to make the transition towards a sustainable way of operating and how we set engagement priorities. 

Appendix D: Voting policy

In this report we describe our voting priorities for this year. This report will be updated annually to explain how we plan to vote during Annual General Meetings and on which topics we put most emphasis.

Appendix D1: Voting policy – market requirements

Dit document is an extension of our voting policy, which outlines market specific considerations which apply to voting.

Appendix E1: Climate Strategy

This strategy provides further details of the Sustainable Investment Policy, specifically on which steps we take to reach our climate target. It discusses which steps we take in our screening and engagement, which KPIs we set and how we monitor progress.

Appendix E2: Biodiversity strategy

This strategy further details the Sustainable Investment Policy, specifically on which steps we take to reach our biodiversity target. It discusses which steps we take in our screening and engagement, which sub-targets and KPIs we set and how we monitor progress.

Appendix E3: Water strategy

This strategy further details the Sustainable Investment Policy, specifically on which steps we take to reach our water target. It discusses which steps we take in our screening and engagement, which KPIs we set and how we monitor progress. This document also describes in detail why water is such an urgent topic for investors.

Appendix F: Sustainable Bond methodology

In this document, we outline how we assess sustainable bonds. We have developed a proprietary method to assess the quality and ambition level of green, social, sustainable and sustainability-linked bonds.

Appendix G: ESG scoring methodology

In this document, we explain how we calculate the proprietary Cardano ESG score. This score is one of the methods we use to further integrate sustainability considerations into investment decisions and portfolio management.

Corporate Sustainability Policy

This document is currently being updated

“Sustainability” refers to a company’s ability to create long-term value for customers and other stakeholders, leading to a more sustainable economy, environment, and society overall. Cardano has always maintained a sustainable mindset, both in culture and strategy.

Our ‘Corporate Sustainability Policy’ outlines Cardano’s sustainability policy regarding our company.

SFDR ‘Principal Adverse Sustainability Impacts’ Statement

The Cardano Group has implemented a Sustainability Policy to encourage countries, institutions, and companies to thrive while operating within the planetary boundaries and respecting the social foundations of society. The financial instruments in which we (Cardano Risk Management B.V.) invest on behalf of our clients include derivatives, government bonds, government-related bonds, loans, money market funds, and covered bonds.

Our sustainability policy provides a holistic view of the role investors play in guiding the transition to a sustainable society. As part of our sustainability policy, we assess the principal adverse sustainability impacts caused by each country, institution, and entity within our investable universe. To do this, we have developed a framework for sustainable investing, which includes a set of criteria to identify and prioritize the adverse effects that countries, institutions, and entities have on sustainability factors. These sustainability factors include climate, biodiversity, water quality and availability, labor rights and human rights, anti-corruption, and anti-bribery issues.

IMVB Covenant

With this Covenant, Dutch pension funds have entered into an agreement focusing on ESG themes. Participating pension funds identify, prioritize, and address ESG risks based on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. ESG risks, as defined in the Covenant, include risks related to human rights and the environment.

Cardano, as an External Service Provider for pension funds, hereby confirms that it complies with the obligations set forth in Article 4.1 of the Covenant regarding the pension funds participating in the covenant.

The investment categories in which Cardano invests and which fall within the scope of the Covenant are (i) government bonds and (ii) covered bonds. Cardano does not invest on behalf of its clients in publicly listed companies (Article 4.1.d of the Covenant).

Given the nature of our investments, we consider the ‘negative impact’ (Articles 4.1.b – 4.1.f) of our investments on human rights and the environment to be low.

Our focus is primarily on implementing the ESG policies of the participating pension funds in the investment mandates entrusted to us (Article 4.1.a of the Covenant) and monitoring and eventually reporting on the ESG footprint (Article 4.1.g of the Covenant) of these mandates.

Article 10 SFDR Disclosure

Pursuant to Article 10 of the SFDR, Cardano Risk Management B.V. is obliged to publish information about financial products (including discretionary asset management and advisory mandates) on its website regarding the Article 8 and Article 9 SFDR products offered by Cardano. Due to the fact that we only offer bespoke solutions to our clients, the mandatory information that needs to be published pursuant to Article 10 SFDR is shared with our clients in the mandate agreement agreed upon with them.