From the 5th of April 2018, all invited companies can start completing the DJSI assessment 2018. Companies that take part in such questionnaire will then be eligible for the inclusion in one of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.
Corporate Sustainability Assessment from RobecoSAM: gateway to the DJSI
The CSA (Corporate Sustainability Assessment) from RobecoSAM, also called DJSI assessment, is a questionnaire to which more than 3,400 companies have been invited to answer.
Such questionnaire covers more than 60 industries, over 3 dimensions: Economic, Environment and Social, with questions and criteria weighted by industry.
The results are then analyzed by RobecoSAM, an investment specialist focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing. Based on such results, and on financial data, the DJSI indices are composed.
The DJSI, or Dow Jones Sustainability Index, is a stock exchanges index, which includes Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria into the ranking.
In details, such indices are DJSI World, DJSI North Amercia, DJSI Europe, DJSI Asia Pacific, DJSI Korea, DJSI Emerging Markets, DJSI Australia, DJSI Chile. Of note, DJSI World tracks the performance of the top 10% of the 2,500 largest companies in the S&P Global Broad Market IndexSM
To maximize your chances to be included in the Index composition, we strongly recommend to take part in the DJSI assessment. Indeed, companies failing to answer will still be analyzed on the basis of public documentation. However, such documentation might be scarce and less detailed, so it is advantageous to complete the DJSI questionnaire from RobecoSAM.
Take part in the DJSI assessment: how to
DFGE suggests the following approach to maximize the results in the two months given to fulfill the questionnaire.
- Check that your company has been invited here.
- Connect to the platform and get to know the questionnaire (for new participants). For repeaters, check out the Methodology changes from 2017 to 2018.
- Formalize a prioritized data plan based on the weighing rules with clear responsibilities and planning
- Engage with internal responsible team members to get the needed data and have them validate the outcome
- Complete the questionnaire
- Prepare an improvement plan to be carried out until next assessment
Of note, the deadline for the RobecoSAM DJSI assessment is May 31, 2018. Results will be published on September 13, 2018.
Various resources at your disposal to answer the DJSI assessment
RobecoSAM provides a set of documents to help you in the process of answering the assessment:
- The Methodology overview, to understand the basic principles
- Scoring Methodology. As an overview: the maximum score for each question is 100. The various answer options within a question are scored individually or in combination, with the total sum resulting in a maximum of 100 points.
- Sample questionnaires, for an overview of questions.
- FAQ and Resource Center
If you wish to benefit from external expertise, have a look the DFGE solutions. We will perform a gap analysis, help you prioritize and organize the data collection in a timely manner. As Sustainability Intelligence Experts, we’ll also help you to streamline all your other reporting requirements to minimize the reporting burden. Don’t hesitate to contact us at info@dfge.de!
