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Investment Criteria

With our ethical and sustainable investment filter, we take responsibility as a Christian sustainable bank. This filter applies to our proprietary investments, in-house funds, asset management, and customer deposits.

We invest exclusively in companies and states that meet our ESG requirements (Environment, Social, and Corporate Governance). To ensure that our investments align with these values, we use clearly defined exclusion criteria. Companies or states that violate one or more of these criteria are excluded from our investments.

The filter is valid until the end of 2025. A new filter will come into effect on January 1, 2026.

Exclusion Criteria for Companies

E | Environmental Criteria for Countries

Nuclear Power

Nuclear Power Plants
Core Components (5%)
Nuclear Electricity (5%)
Uranium Mining

S | Social Criteria

Armament

Cluster Bombs
Anti-Personnel Mines
Civilian Firearms (0%)
Nuclear Weapon Systems
Other Controversial Weapons (biological, chemical, etc.)
Conventional Weapons (3%)

G | Good Governance Criteria

Controversial Business Practices

Corruption
ESG Controversies (severe, structural), e.g., human rights and labor rights violations as well as environmental damage

Fossil Fuels

Coal Mining (0%)
Coal-Fired Power Generation (10%)
Oil and Gas Extraction (5%)
Revenues from Oil (10%)
Metallurgical Coal Reserves Oil Shale/Tar Sands (0%)*
Lack of Willingness to Transform*

Threat to the protection of the individual

Abortion and anti-nidation contraceptives
Stem cells
Pornography (1,5%)
Tobacco (5%)
Gambling (5%)

Compliance with International Standards

UN Global Compact
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
International Labour Standards (ILO)

Animal Welfare

Animal testing
Factory farming

Endangering the Environment

Green genetic engineering (3%)
Biodiversity
Palm oil

Important note:

Our exclusion criteria may allow tolerance limits for low-value lines of business at major corporations. The majority of these companies’ products and services meet our ESG requirements and thus remain investable, particularly for the purpose of diversifying (spreading the risk) the investment universe.

*Companies that show no willingness to switch to less carbon-intensive production methods or products, especially in the coal, oil, gas, building materials, and transportation sectors

Exclusion Criteria for Countries

E | Environmental Criteria for Countries

Nuclear power (> 40% of the national energy mix)
Failure to ratify the Paris Agreement
Failure to ratify the UN Conventions on Biological Diversity
Greenhouse gas intensity (emissions in relation to GDP / exclusion of the worst 20%)

S | Social Criteria

Defense budget (spending > 4% of national GDP)
Nuclear arsenal
Failure to ratify relevant UN conventions about biological and chemical weapons
Civil and political liberties
Religious freedom
Freedom of the press
Torture
Death penalty

G | Good Governance Criteria

High level of corruption (Corruption Perceptions Index value > 40)
Money laundering and terrorist financing