Our approach
Swiss legal norms and values
The Swiss pension funds and insurance companies that are members of SVVK-ASIR all serve a large and diverse section of the Swiss population. Therefore, our basis for action are the legal norms and values defined by democratic consensus. They are expressed in the Federal Constitution, laws and ordinances, and in the international conventions ratified by Switzerland. This approach guarantees the greatest possible objectivity.
Examples of standards violations
A company operates a natural resource extraction or an infrastructure project with a major impact on the natural resources of the local population without their free consent.
Example: CK Power Public Co.
A company restricts the freedom of its employees, withholds their identity documents or forces them into debt bondage by charging high fees.
Example: OFILM Group
The activities of a company or its funded projects threaten a protected area (e.g. a UNESCO World Heritage Site or Biosphere Reserve).
Example: EXIM Bank of India
A company corruptly seeks to circumvent or undermine the justice system by destroying relevant evidence or by attempting to bribe or otherwise influence judges or witnesses to take certain actions or give testimony.
Example: Petróleos de Venezuela
A company produces the detonators for cluster bombs, a key component that contributes to the lethality of the weapon. In the case of producers of controversial weapons, we do not seek dialogue, as the product itself does not comply with our normative basis. SVVK-ASIR therefore recommends that the company in question be excluded.
Example: Aryt Industries
*SR: A compilation of all Swiss federal laws, ordinances, and international treaties that are in force published by the Swiss Confederation.
Portfolio monitoring
SVVK-ASIR's activites are based on close cooperation with several selected international and Swiss experts in sustainability investment research. This enables the identification and independent verification of violations of the normative basis, essentially, violations of human rights, core labour standards and environmental rights, as well as corruption and fraud.
Our partners in identifying norms violations are ISS-ESG, ECOFACT, Sustainalytics und RepRisk.
Seeking dialogue
Companies can violate our normative basis both with their products (business lines) and with how they operate (business conduct). In the first case, we seek to enter a targeted dialogue with the company in question. Demonstrable, severe and systematic violations (i.e., repeated breaches) constitute the conditions for an engagement dialogue. We consider dialogue to be the most effective instrument to achieve a positive change. Specialised external investment providers with the relevant network and expertise are appointed to engage in the dialogue (learn more about our partners).
Recommendations for exclusion
If direct dialogue has taken place with a company identified as problematic, but this has not led to any improvement, we reserve the right to recommend the company for exclusion.
In the case of producers of banned weapons such as cluster munitions, anti-personnel mines, and nuclear weapons, dialogue is unlikely to produce any change, which is why we will not seek dialogue in these cases. Their products violate Swiss laws and internationally recognised conventions, namely the Ottawa and Oslo Conventions and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
This list is regularly updated and made available to our members and published on this website. The decision to follow a recommendation and divest a company remains entirely with each individual member of the association.
SVVK-ASIR normative basis
For more information: Normative Basis of SVVK-ASIR