Analysis of the ESG transparency of 77 real estate funds from Switzerland and Germany
The consulting firm pom+Consulting AG, which specializes in real estate, has examined the annual reports of Swiss real estate funds and German mutual funds for ESG sustainability features for the second time. The differences are particularly striking when it comes to reporting on energy performance indicators and target values.
The analysis of the 2023/24 annual reports covers 43 funds listed on the Swiss stock exchange and 34 German mutual funds. In Germany, many of the key figures that must be included in the annual report are enshrined in law. In Switzerland, sustainability reports increasingly go beyond the legal requirements due to other specifications. The portfolio sizes of the funds surveyed in Switzerland range from 100 million to 3 billion Swiss francs, while in Germany they are between 18 million and 18 billion euros.
Focus on environmental aspects
While almost all funds in Switzerland (91 %) provide at least quantitative information on environmental aspects, 37% of the funds do not comment on the social aspect of sustainability at all. Governance criteria are found in almost two thirds of real estate vehicles in Switzerland. In Germany, the four dimensions of sustainability are much more evenly represented than in Switzerland. 30 % to 40 % of the funds provide quantitative information on society, the environment and governance.
The economic aspect is mentioned by less than 10 % of the funds in both countries, but this is due to the fact that the economic indicators are integrated into the financial reporting.
Standards create comparability
The analysis underlines that ESG aspects are now firmly anchored in the annual report of most funds. However, transparency and level of detail still vary greatly. The use of reporting standards such as GRI or CSRD and benchmarks such as GRESB is proving to be key to ensuring consistent and comparable sustainability reporting within the asset class and across countries.
Environmental aspects such as CO2 emissions, energy consumption and targets towards net zero or limiting global warming remain the primary differentiators for sustainable real estate investments. In the future, key figures on gray energy, but also on economic and social fields of action, are likely to come more to the fore in reporting.
Source: www.pom.ch
