Friday, 17 September 2021 Reading time : 3 minutes

Crisis as chance
Europe is challenged in several ways. Without political integration the euro is threatened to break apart, the aging of society sets the public finances under additional pressure, and globally competition is increasing from emerging economies. In Europe, however, many well-armed companies are located which can benefit from regional and global developments.

Aiming at sustainable growth model
The euro crisis is a result of large imbalances between northern and southern Europe, which have built up since the introduction of the Euro in 1999. The southern periphery countries of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece could borrow money at very low interest rates and could afford large imports in order to meet the growing consumption. Countries in northern Europe, especially Germany, could improve their competitiveness and increase trade surpluses . With the change in growth prospects since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008, the accumulated national debt in the periphery were no longer bearable in the long term. In addition to the need for massive austerity measures, structural adjustments and fiscal policy coordination the promotion of has become even more important on the agenda of European policy. At the EU summit in late June 2012 was as a supplement to the Fiscal Pact, the "Pact for Growth and Employment" definitely adopted, according to which around EUR 120 billion will be mobilized via the European Investment Bank, project bonds, or diversion of existing EU funds. The wider framework for the coordination of the growth policy in Europe is the 10-year strategy "Europe 2020" of the European Commission, which replaced the Lisbon Strategy by 2010. Focus of the growth strategy is the reduction of greenhouse gases and increasing resource efficiency, promoting education and innovation plus the reduction of poverty and the increase of employment. This means that sustainability is firmly anchored at the political level and financially supported.

Creating Added Value Through Sustainable Companies
By investing in sustainable companies does not only promote sustainable growth in Europe, but invests in companies that can benefit better from long-term trends or are less affected of new strains. Within an industry it is those that distinguish themselves by low environmental impact, social responsibility and responsible business management from the others. For example, a company in the sector raw materials can with more efficient obesity and benefit at the same time from the rapidly increasing demand. And sustainable banks in which the responsible corporate leadership is at focus, have proved more resistant to crises. Also small companies that develop new technologies such as renewable energy, more efficient use of resources or public transport gain through these trends.

ZKB MeinIndex Sustainability Europe
In a second step, companies from ZKB’s sustainable investment universe are chosen for the ZKB MeinIndex Sustainability Europe based on their attractiveness as determined by the quantitative ZKB equity selection model. The ZKB MeinIndex Sustainability Europe is an index covering Europe ex Switzerland.

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