Three big banks and a life insurance firm represent Canada’s financial services sector in a global index ranking the world’s 100 most sustainable companies.
Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada is the highest-ranking Canadian firm, overall, as it sits in 37th place in the 2017 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, which is produced by Corporate Knights Inc., a media and research company that advocates for “clean capitalism” and is also based in Toronto.
Sun Life Financial Inc. is the second-highest ranked Canadian financial services firm in 45th place. Toronto-Dominion Bank makes a mark for itself with a ranking of 58th place while Bank of Montreal claims the 61st spot. (All firms are based in Toronto.)
The global 100 index is determined through 14 quantitative sustainability indicators, which include the amount of revenue companies generate per unit of energy consumed, the ratio of CEO to average worker pay and percentage of taxes paid.
The index, which is equally weighted and sector neutral, began in 2005. From its inception to Dec. 31, 2016, it delivered a cumulative return of 132% compared with 108% for its benchmark, the MSCI all country world index.
“Global 100 companies are powerful exponents of the idea that doing better by society and the planet can be financially rewarding as well,” says Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights, in a statement.
Corporate Knights released the 2017 index ranking at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The companies included in the final index are considered the top overall sustainability performers in their respective industrial sectors. They’re selected from a starting universe of 4,973 listed companies with a market capitalization greater than US$2 billion as of Oct. 1, 2016.
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