GERMANY - German private bank Sal Oppenheim is about to sign the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI).

Ferdinand-Alexander Leisten, member of the extended board and head of institutional asset management at private bank and quantitative portfolio manager Sal Oppenheim, told IPE: “We have done the preparations and fulfilled the requirements to become a signatory. Therefore, I expect Sal Oppenheim to sign the UN PRI within the next two months.”

Leisten conceded that it had taken a rather long time for sustainability or environmental, social, governance (ESG) investments to take hold in Germany.

But he said he expected sustainability and sustainable products to grow further.

Michael Fuss, head of institutional distribution at DB Advisors, said: “With sustainability factors most likely to be reflected in legislation in the future, at some point, every asset manager will have to integrate them in his investment process.

“ESG used to be relevant for churches and charities only. Now, corporate pension funds and other institutional investors have started paying attention to the issue, too.”

At present, nine asset owners, 14 asset managers and nine professional service partners in Germany have signed up the UN PRI.

The asset owners are Allianz SE, Bayerische Versorgungskammer, Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, Dreilinden, KfW Bankengruppe, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), MetallRente GmbH, Munich Re and Sparda-Bank Muenchen eG.

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