Provident to be included in the Ethibel PIONEER and Ethibel EXCELLENCE investment registers

During May, Provident was selected for inclusion in the Ethibel PIONEER and Ethibel EXCELLENCE Investment Registers. By being included in these investment registers, which are managed and overseen by the socially responsible investment (SRI) consultancy Forum ETHIBEL, Provident is considered to be a sector leader in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Provident’s inclusion in these registers is based on an assessment process which evaluates company performance against a range of CSR parameters, including human rights, human capital, the environment, social impact, market ethics and good governance, and comprises consultation with the stakeholders that are relevant to the company.  Companies are only eligible to be included on the registers if they attain an above average assessment score and have not been involved in any serious controversies.

Eligible companies can then use Forum ETHIBEL labels which act as a quality mark for investment funds which exclusively invest in shares or bonds of companies which are considered to be high CSR performers.

Rob Lawson, corporate responsibility manager at Provident Financial, commented:

“Sharing information with the SRI community and being represented within investment registers such as the Ethibel PIONEER and Ethibel EXCELLENCE is an important facet of our approach to CR management. It enables us to provide our investors and other stakeholder groups with demonstrable evidence of our commitment to operating our business in a responsible manner, and that the social, environmental and ethical impacts that are material to our operations are well managed.”

Notes

About Forum ETHIBEL

Forum ETHIBEL promotes ‘Socially Responsible Investing’ (SRI) in Europe. It provides specific instruments and labels to support investors in their search for SRI products. Forum ETHIBEL manages two labels: the ETHIBEL PIONEER label and the ETHIBEL EXCELLENCE label.

Ethibel PIONEER and Ethibel EXCELLENCE labels

These quality labels are registered in the European Union and provide assurance that only environmentally sound and sustainable corporations are selected for investment. The labels are assigned to investment funds that only include stocks from the ETHIBEL investment register. The Ethibel PIONEER Investment Register contains companies which are sector leaders in terms of CSR. The Ethibel EXCELLENCE Investment Register also includes companies which perform better than average in their sector.