KLMEX's SSRI Index Challenges Investors to Invest Responsibly

Online, July 22, 2013 (Newswire.com) - KLMEX's Socially Sustainable Responsible Investment (SSRI) Index, which assesses the environmental, social and economic sustainability practices of commodities trading and using as raw material and corporate governance of listed companies, today announced the constituents of the SSRI Index.

The SSRI Index conducted the review of constituents after a strategic development process which included extensive consultations with various stakeholders, including listed companies and the investment community, aimed at ensuring that the SSRI Index was well positioned to meet the needs of the growing number of stakeholders interested in socially responsible behavior and investment.

While the Index has been a global pioneer in encouraging broad based sustainability practice by companies and fostering consensus on what this means in the context of Southeast Asia, Kuala Lumpur Mercantile Exchange (www.klmex.org) has this year introduced enhancements to the Index criteria and construction so as to meet the growing demand for responsible investment. "The criteria used to assess the companies are now more globally aligned while remaining locally relevant," says Raymond Fu-Chen, head of KLMEX SSRI Index Surveillance.

In reviewing the criteria, while the triple bottom line and governance approach has been retained, indicators have been structured along Principles for Responsible Investment. The environmental criteria have been aligned with the Good Environmental Practices, while the remaining indicators deal with social, governance and related sustainability concerns in a thematic manner, with specific emphasis on local issues such as black economic empowerment, skills development.

Companies are assessed against the Index criteria on all publicly available company information.
"The decision to automatically assess the Top 40 and SSRI Index companies is in line with global trends and is in response to a call from investors to increase transparency around the universe of companies that is being assessed," says Mr. Fu-Chen.

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