The world’s largest wind power energy producer, Iberdrola, has made the Ethisphere Institute’s most ethical companies list for the ninth year in a row, according to a press release from the Iberdrola website.
Iberdrola is the only company from Spain to make the list once again and is one of 10 companies that were represented in the energy and utilities category; Avangrid, the U.S. subsidiary of Iberdrola, also made the list for the fourth year in a row. The Ethisphere Institute is a global leader in bringing definition to corporate ethics on the international stage, identifying standards and releasing annual rankings of top companies worldwide.
Ethisphere Institute began building its index of top ethical companies in 2007 based upon companies’ international compliance standards, commitment to transparency, levels of engagement with stakeholders, and diversity and inclusion practices. For the rankings for 2022, the institute ranked companies based on their leadership and reputation, corporate governance, compliance systems, environmental and social impact, and ethical culture.
“The World’s Most Ethical Companies historically outperform their peers and competitors financially, demonstrating a tangible ROI for doing the right thing. The connection between good ethical practices and financial performance, called the Ethics Premium, has been tracked for 16 years,” wrote the Ethisphere Institute on the 2022 announcement page.
The 2022 listing includes 136 companies in total, representing 22 different countries and 45 sectors, with a combined $10.5 trillion in market cap.
Investing in Ethics and the Blue Economy With OCEN
The health of the oceans is vital to curtailing climate change and allowing communities and industries to continue to grow. The IQ Clean Oceans ETF (OCEN) invests in the blue economy, which is estimated to be worth roughly $2.5 trillion annually and is anticipated to grow twice as fast as the mainstream economy by 2030.
OCEN seeks to track the IQ Candriam Clean Oceans Index, which offers exposure to companies involved in pollution reduction, carbon efficiency, clean energy, sustainable oceans, or cleaner shipping. These companies offer products or services that work to protect the oceans or promote cleaner oceans, use products or services that accomplish those goals, or else engage in activities that have ocean-related sustainability goals. Companies are not required to be primarily or directly engaged in these activities.
The index screens for ESG requirements in developed and emerging markets as well as applying an exclusionary screen monthly for companies that don’t comply with the UN Global Compact. The index includes companies of all market caps and utilizes a thematic score based on revenue and a companies impact score to rank companies. Securities are weighted using a modified market cap-weighted methodology with a minimum weight of 0.25% and a maximum weight of 3% at its quarterly rebalances.
Iberdrola SA is the second-largest holding in the fund, carried at a 3.3% weighting.
OCEN carries an expense ratio of 0.45% and currently has 79 holdings.
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