On September 12, the annual 2013 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) review revealed the 24 industry group leaders among 1,831 publicly traded companies of the S&P Global Broad Market Index, representing 59 industries from 45 countries.

Analyzed for over 15 years by the world’s leading provider of financial data in collaboration with the investment specialist RobecoSAM, DJSI tracks the financial performance of the sustainability-driven companies. The index is an important piece of data for those international investors who see sustainability as the right long-term strategy of a profitable business.

The indices are the result of assessment of economic, environmental and social criteria, such as companies’ financial stability and systemic risk, product stewardship, climate strategy, operational eco-efficiency and stakeholder engagement. Additionally to the global indices DJSI World, there are more specific, regional and national rankings such as for Europe, North America, Asia Pasific, Emerging Markets, Korea and Australia. Not all the companies agreed to provide private data to RobecoSAM for assessment—roughly 26% (669 of 2500 invited) refused to participate in the analysis, while 1,013 companies were assessed based exclusively on public information.

The leader in DJSI World in the food and drinks sector, as well as the top sustainable company in the recently revealed Oxfam’s «Behind the Brands» ranking, is Nestle SA, Switzerland. Number one in the household and personal products category is Henkel; Volkswagen—in the automobile category, Panasonic—in the Consumer durables & apparel, SAP—in software and services, Air France-KLM—in transportation.

DJSI World 2013/2014 sees 39 additions (such as Bank of America Corp, UBS, United Parcel Service, Telefonica and others) as well as 47 deletions from the index (represented by Johnson and Johnson, HSBC Holdings Pld, Vodafone Group and others), and will have 333 components overall. All the changes are effective on Monday, September 23.

David Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the S&P Dow Jones Index Committee, S&P Dow Jones Indices comments on the review:

“The market upheavals and high debt levels of the last few years should remind investors that a long term view of the world and the markets is essential. The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices combine that kind of long run focus on sustainability with index investing to empower investors.”

Full information on DJSI review 2013 including methodology, assessment process and list of components (for licensees) is available here.