Dr. Dr. Eike Wenzel, founder of the ITZ – Institute for Trend and Future Research – still remember well. At the beginning of the 2000s, he presented his then boss with a concept for the "Lohas": "Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability", a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, a trend from the USA. "What's this eco stuff for? I've lived in rural communities long enough!" Said his boss; it was Matthias Horx, Germany's most famous futurologist.
There is no good unless you do it
Sustainability as a concept for the future? Was not in demand in that neo-liberal era. "It was about faster, higher and further," recalls Wenzel. But now many people have become more thoughtful. Plastic garbage floats in the oceans, in the metropolises – not only in China – the air to breathe becomes scarce, extreme weather conditions increase, hunger, poverty and wars force millions of people to flee. "Everything is related to everything," says Wenzel, who founded his own research institute in 2011. "If we don't get the curve ecologically and socially, we'll hit the wall."
So is it time to get involved as a citizen and pull the emergency brake? This has long been a matter of course when shopping in a supermarket. If you don't want meat from factory farming on your plate, buy organic meat or tofu. Others take products from the region to avoid long transport routes. On the other hand, when it comes to investing, most people still hand over the book. They park their money in any account or invest it in any fund and leave it to the bank what happens to it. For example, they may be subconsciously investing in companies that make their money from arms deals, exploit workers, pollute the environment, and possibly benefit from child labor. There is a wide range of opportunities to exert a positive influence through savings or investments. "Money moves the world – and it is never neutral," says Claudia Tober, managing director of the Sustainable Investment Forum (FNG). When the association started in 2001, sustainable investment was still an issue for marginalized groups. Sustainable simply means: ecological, social and ethical criteria are taken into account. Since the start of the FNG, the volume of money invested in Germany has grown from five to 171 billion euros today.
Companies have to start rethinking
Foundations, associations, churches, pension funds and pension funds in particular are increasingly demanding that their money be invested sustainably. And are forcing companies to rethink: "The pressure on financial flows is powerful," says Tober. Producers of climate-damaging fossil energies, for example, get to feel this: With around 850 large investors, they are already on the red list. Investors who collectively manage more than $ 30 trillion have joined forces worldwide to form the Climate Action 100+ initiative to put pressure on climate sinners. The EU Commission is also betting on the power of money in the fight against global warming: With an action plan, it wants to oblige investors to be more sustainable.
However, private investors remain hesitant. "Sustainability aspects can be taken into account in every form of investment," says FNG Managing Director Tober. The simplest form: open an account with an eco bank. In Germany, for example, these are GLS Bank, Umweltbank, Triodos Bank, Ethikbank and church banks. Not everyone offers every banking service. At GLS Bank, however, all products (exclusively) are available in a green coat, from checking accounts, savings accounts, savings bonds, insurance and financing to equity funds. "We see our task as bringing money flows to where they are needed," says GLS spokesman Christof Lützel. Customers' savings are invested regionally – in projects in the fields of regenerative energies, ecological agriculture, in schools, kindergartens, medical and curative education facilities. With savings bonds, customers can even determine which project their money should flow into.
This is particularly popular with women
Security with savings facilities, also with sense: the offer is well received by women, two thirds of GLS customers are women. However, they do not achieve a return in the current low interest rate. With the savings letter from GLS-Bank there is currently 0.7 percent per year for seven years; In the "growth saving" of the environmental bank, the interest rate rises from 0.1 to 1.0 percent over seven years, with the ethical bank the interest rate for term accounts is even at 0 percent. As with any savings account, the following also applies to green deposits: The money loses value because the price increase (inflation) is above interest. If you want more, you have to take risks.
For Annika Peters, managing director of the Frauen Finanzberatung Barbara Rojahn in Stuttgart, holistic and independent advice is the top priority. What goals do you want to achieve with your money, for what period do you plan? And how high is your risk tolerance? "Many women save a lot of money, but don't do anything with it," says the financial planner.
It pays off over long periods of time to build up wealth for old age through investment funds. The longer the period, the better the return prospects and the lower the risks. "Women are often initially critical of stocks," says Peters. "But if they see their values represented, it can make it easier to get started because it takes away the evil of the stock exchange."
Sustainability needs to be defined more precisely
Shareholders can decide whether their money is destroyed and exploited, or whether it heals and educates and helps make the world a better place. Investments in sustainable companies offer the opportunity to exert influence and at the same time to achieve a return. Numerous studies have shown that value-oriented investors do not have to cut corners. According to futurologist Wenzel, sustainability is even a veritable growth market. His institute has identified 15 megatrends that will have a massive impact on development in the coming decades, from climate change, the energy and mobility transition to demographic change and urbanization. "Ten of the 15 trends are sustainability trends," said Wenzel. The dilemma: "Sustainability" is not clearly defined. The providers of financial products have subsumed a number of different products under the term, which are filtered according to very different criteria:
• Some exclude companies or industries that produce weapons, fossil fuels, tobacco or nuclear power. Or disregard human rights, i.e. let children work or discriminate against women. Or states in which the death penalty applies (exclusion criterion).
• Others choose the companies from each industry that best meet the criteria (best-in-class).
• Still others try to influence management in a targeted manner (commitment).
• There are also providers who only invest in companies that not only do nothing bad, but produce good things (positive criteria).
• Different approaches are often combined. There are also thematic funds that focus on sustainable industries such as energy, water or environmental technology.
Transparency is the be-all and end-all
It is not an easy job for private investors to find a suitable product. To make it easier to get started, the FNG has been awarding a sustainability seal since 2015 (www.fng-siegel.org). The funds must meet certain minimum requirements. Transparency is part of this, 90 percent of the capital invested must meet the so-called ESG criteria. ESG stands for environmental, social and governance. Actors with serious violations of human rights and environmental protection, with poor working conditions and corruption are fundamentally taboo – even US government bonds are currently falling through the cracks. The requirements are to increase gradually, for example coal producers will also be banned from the seal funds in 2019. In addition, the FNG awards between one and three stars – depending on the quality of the sustainability approach.
The catch on the seal: participation is voluntary. Fund providers must apply and pay for the valuation. Eco-banks like the Ethikbank or the GLS Bank are not included. "The selection is not strict enough for us," says Christof Lützel from GLS Bank.
Other actors also do without a seal, such as the fund provider Ökoworld. Founder Alfred Platow is not only a pioneer, but also a fundamentalist in the industry. Like the GLS Bank, the fund provider provides an independent expert committee for its flagship fund "Ökoworld Ökovision", which uses strict criteria to check whether a company qualifies for the investment universe. Only in the second step does the fund management pick out the most promising companies based on the key financial figures. "With our investments we want to promote developments that are desirable from an ecological and ethical point of view," says Platow, who simply puts marketing under the buzzword of sustainability for many competitors. "If you are serious, a simple exclusion is far from enough."
Don't put everything on one card
Globalance Invest takes a more pragmatic approach with the D&R Globalance Zukunftsbeweger equity fund. "Forward-thinking companies are companies that help to master the global challenges – whether in the areas of energy, mobility, health, recycling or nutrition," explains Julian Rautenberg, who is jointly responsible for Globalance Invest's Germany business. Decisive for the selection is the effect of the invested money on economy, environment and society, which can be seen on the so-called Globalance Footprint. "Investors don't want to deal with 100 criteria," says Rautenberg. He understands the footprint as a kind of "Google Earth" for the investment. "Every investor can see at a glance what effect they are getting with their money."
"100 percent is not possible", financial adviser Peters is convinced. "But even a little sustainable is better than nothing." But investors should also avoid classic mistakes when making green investments: "Never put everything on one card, but spread the money widely," she advises. And don't be tempted by high interest rate promises just because it says "good for the environment". Examples such as Solarworld or German Pellets – three eco-companies that slipped into bankruptcy – show that this can go wrong.
Fundamental or pragmatic: "Each investor must define their own goals," says FNG managing director Tober. Post-contraceptive producers or porn producers are a no-go for some devout investors. It is important to others to use their money to promote renewable energies. So if you put more than the minimum requirements on your money when it comes to sustainability, you can't avoid getting informed. The FNG publishes detailed fund profiles at www.forum-ng.org.
BOMB BUSINESS
It is not clear to many that their investments could indirectly finance arms deals: According to calculations by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican), for example, last year $ 525 billion went to companies that produce or maintain atomic bombs, warheads and missiles. Compared to the previous year, this was an increase of $ 81 billion. More than ten billion came from banks in Germany. In total, Ican and the Pax peace group counted 329 banks, insurance companies, pension funds and asset management companies from 24 countries that make such investments.