Responsible investing
BVI's members agreed on 'Guidelines for Responsible Investment' in 2012. The guidelines are now part of our Code of Conduct, to which the asset manager voluntarily commit themselves in accordance with the 'comply or explain' principle.
Accordingly, they develop internal rules for dealing with products and business practices that are prohibited under international law or outlawed internationally. In addition, they undertake to incorporate other relevant codes of responsible investing into their investment processes on their own responsibility. These include, for example, the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.
UN Principles for Responsible Investment
The voluntary commitment also includes taking appropriate account of ESG criteria when assessing investment risks. ESG stands for Environment Social Governance. Funds can only be labelled as 'sustainable', 'ethical', 'ecological' or similar if they invest according to defined ESG strategies. Asset managers must document these strategies in the fund documents and inform the investors accordingly.
The use of ESG is particularly important in the construction, management and development of real estate. BVI's real estate asset managers have therefore developed special 'guidelines for sustainable real estate portfolio management' in addition to the Code of Conduct.
BVI Guidelines for Sustainable Real Estate Portfolio Management (available in German only)
