Wiesbaden, 29 October 2019 – Aareal Bank Group has once again been awarded a ‘Prime Status’ rating from renowned sustainability rating agency ISS-ESG. With a C+ rating, the Bank therefore ranks among the top 15 per cent within the ‘Financials/Mortgage & Public Sector Finance’ category. Therefore, securities issued by Aareal Bank qualify as an investment from an ecological and social perspective, since rating agency assessments of the sustainability commitment frequently form the basis for investment decisions amongst sustainability-oriented investors.
ISS-ESG ratings assess not only companies’ environmental performance, but also social and governance factors – by way of more than 100 indicators, selected sector-specifically. Aareal Bank, which has been rated by the agency since 2012, achieved particularly high marks in the areas of Corporate Governance and business ethics, employee matters, as well as environmental management and operational resource efficiency. Overall, ISS-ESG rates 80 banks worldwide in the ‘Financials/Mortgage & Public Sector Finance’ category. Currently, the best classification in this category is a B rating.
Since March 2018, the sustainability rating agency – previously known by the name oekom research and originally founded in 1993 – has belonged to the proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services ISS. ISS-ESG is thus one of the leading ESG research and rating agencies worldwide. With an established rating methodology, and enjoying high renown in the market, it assesses the most important equity and bond issuers regarding their environmental, social and governance performance.
“Sustainability is an important factor of our business orientation, gaining relevance for the industry as a whole as well as for us as a company”, Hermann J. Merkens, CEO of Aareal Bank AG, explains. “We are glad that the rating awarded to us by ISS-ESG confirms our strategy and our sustainable engagement.”
“Sustainable management has been an integral part of Aareal Bank Group’s business for a long time”, Julia Taeschner, Group Sustainability Officer at Aareal Bank Group, adds. “We are delighted about the ISS-ESG rating and will continue to consistently develop our sustainability management activities, aligned with our stakeholders’ needs.”
Aareal Bank Group
Aareal Bank Group, headquartered in Wiesbaden, is a leading international property specialist. It provides smart financings, software products, and digital solutions for the property sector and related industries, and is present across three continents: Europe, North America and Asia/Pacific. Aareal Bank AG, whose shares are included in Deutsche Börse's MDAX index, is the Group’s parent entity. It manages the various entities organised in the Group’s two business segments: Structured Property Financing and Consulting /Services. The Structured Property Financing segment encompasses all of Aareal Bank Group’s property financing and funding activities. In this segment, the Bank facilitates property investment projects for its domestic and international clients, within the framework of a three-continent strategy covering Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific region. In its Consulting/Services segment Aareal Bank Group offers its European clients from the property and energy sectors a unique combination of specialised banking services as well as innovative digital products and services, designed to help clients optimise and enhance the efficiency of their business processes.
