VBV took action on climate protection at an early stage several years ago. The pension and provident funds have signed the Montréal Carbon Pledge Agreement – the provident fund in 2015 was even the first financial institution in the German-speaking region to do so. In doing so, the companies have committed to measuring and publishing the carbon footprint of their portfolio. “Our vision is to make a significant contribution to climate protection and quality of life in Austria as a thought leader and responsible company. Here, the reduction of our CO2 footprint in the investment is an important contribution to help achieve the climate goals of Paris,” explains Andreas Zakostelsky, General Director of the VBV Group.

VBV-Pensionskasse: CO2 footprint reduced by 125 tons or 47.2 percent since 2016

VBV-Pensionskasse consistently continued its path in terms of sustainability in the previous year. “We sustainably restructured our equity portfolio in the middle of the biggest financial crisis. Today, our equity portfolio is almost 90 percent sustainable, with the focus on climate strategies and innovation in the fight against climate change,” explains Günther Schiendl, member of the VBV Group and VBV-Pensionskasse Executive Board responsible for investments.

The relative CO2 footprint of VBV-Pensionskasse fell by 49 tons year-on-year in 2019/2020 to now 140 tons of CO2 per million euros invested. The value was thus only 6.9 percent above the benchmark value. In a long-term comparison, the value has been reduced by 125 tons or 47.2 percent since 2016.

“Our goal in sustainable investment is to combine good investment returns with structural improvements in the environment, society and the economy,” explains Günther Schiendl.

 

VBV Group is Austria’s market leader for workplace pension solutions with leading companies in the area of company pensions and the new severance pay scheme. In addition to VBV-Pensionskasse AG and VBV-Vorsorgekasse AG, service providers such as VBV-Pensionsservice-Center GmbH, VBV-Consult GmbH, VBV Asset Service GmbH, and Betriebliche Altersvorsorge SoftWare Engineering GmbH form part of VBV Group.

Source and more information: vbv.at

Cover picture: vbv.at