Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) has been named to all of the four responsible investment (RI) indexes adopted by Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)[1]. Of these indexes, the company has been selected for the FTSE Blossom Japan Index, the MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index, and the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index for three consecutive years since their establishment in 2017, and for the S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index consecutively since its establishment in 2018. Konica Minolta has also been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series, which is one of the most well-known RI indexes in the world, for 16 consecutive years.
Konica Minolta’s commitment to sustainability
Konica Minolta remains committed to developing innovations that bring new values beneficial to the global environment and society, and that also support business growth. In doing so, the company aims to become a digital company with insight into implicit challenges, namely, a company capable of contributing to a sustainable society by continuing evolution together with customers through innovations.
Under this vision, Konica Minolta has developed cutting-edge solutions, which include: Care Support Solution, a system that changes the way care is given with the company’s core technologies combined with state-of-the-art digital technology; Workplace Hub that helps companies promote work-style reform with advanced information technology; and Gas Monitoring Solution designed to enhance safety and contribute to environmental protection by visualising gas leaks.
Konica Minolta also believes that the company can significantly contribute to solving global social issues such as environmental and energy problems by sharing its proprietary technologies and know-how widely with external stakeholders. Building on its efforts to enhance both environmental and corporate values in cooperation with customers and suppliers, Konica Minolta has launched the Environmental Digital Platform vision, which aims to extend environmental efforts by digitising the environmental know-how it has offered individually so far. By encouraging many stakeholders to join the platform, Konica Minolta hopes to accumulate and share a wider range of environmental technologies and know-how, thereby drastically reducing environmental impacts throughout society.
Outline of each Index
The FTSE4Good Index Series, which was introduced by FTSE Russell, a UK-based global index provider, lists companies around the world demonstrating strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, and provides a means for investors and RI funds to select companies with good sustainability prospects for investment. The FTSE Blossom Japan Index is designed to include Japanese companies with excellent performance in ESG practices, and was selected by GPIF, the world’s largest public pension fund, as one of the ESG indexes for its passive investment strategy.
The MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index and the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index are ESG indexes introduced in 2017 by MSCI Inc., a US-based global ESG research and index provider. These indexes were also adopted by the GPIF. Konica Minolta was included in the MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index in recognition of its performance in “Human Capital Development”
The S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index was launched jointly by S&P Dow Jones Indices, one of the world’s major index providers, and Japan Exchange Group, Inc. Using TOPIX as a benchmark, it is designed to reduce exposure to high-carbon companies while maintaining the risk/return profile similar to that of their benchmarks. This index, too, was selected by GPIF as an environmental index.
Reference: Evaluation by external parties
Konica Minolta is currently included in global ESG indexes and is ranked high in the CSR ratings, as shown below.
Index
Description
Dow Jones Sustainability Index (USA, Switzerland)
World Index (DJSI World) : Included in the index consecutively since 2012
Asia Pacific Index (DJSI Asia Pacific) : Included in the index consecutively since 2009
FTSE4Good Index Series (UK)
Included in the index consecutively since 2003
FTSE Blossom Japan Index (UK)
Included in the index since its establishment in 2017
MSCI ESG Leaders Indexes (USA)
Included in the index consecutively since 2010
*No information is available as to whether or not the company was included in the indexes prior to 2010.
*The index was renamed from MSCI Global SRI in 2017.
MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index (USA)
MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index (USA)
S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index
Included in the index consecutively since its establishment in 2018
Corporate Knights (Canada)
Ranked among the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World (January 2019)
oekom (Germany)
Maintained the highest Prime Status since 2011
Ethibel (Belgium)
Selected for the investment universe of Ethibel Pioneer and Ethibel Excellence (June 2019)
CDP (UK)
Awarded the title of Supplier Engagement Leader for two consecutive years since 2018
THE INCLUSION OF KONICA MINOLTA, INC. IN ANY MSCI INDEX, AND THE USE OF MSCI LOGOS, TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS OR INDEX NAMES HEREIN, DO NOT CONSTITUTE A SPONSORSHIP, ENDORSEMENT OR PROMOTION OF KONICA MINOLTA, INC. BY MSCI OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES. THE MSCI INDEXES ARE THE EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OF MSCI. MSCI AND THE MSCI INDEX NAMES AND LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OR SERVICE MARKS OF MSCI OR ITS AFFILIATES.
[1] The Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) is an independent administrative agency responsible for the management and administration of the employees’ pension and national pension reserve funds under control of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.