Sustainability in our products

At Deka, profitability is not the only thing that counts: We also take environmental and social criteria into account in our investments.

Sustainability in the Securities business division

Fundamental exclusion criteria are used in Deka's investment process:
  • Manufacturers of outlawed and controversial weapons and manufacturers of small arms are excluded.
  • No investments are made in companies in the coal mining and power generation sector as soon as a set revenue limit is exceeded.
  • In addition, the Deka Group does not issue products that track the price development of basic foodstuffs and does not invest in companies with blatant human rights violations.
Deka excludes companies that manufacture anti-personnel mines or cluster munitions. Manufacturers of small arms are also a taboo. We do not issue products that directly reflect the price development of food.

Deka Investment offers the “Deka-Nachhaltigkeit” product range for private investors. These equity, bond or balanced fund portfolios meet the special criteria of sustainable investment. Examples include:
  • the Deka-UmweltInvest fund, which exclusively invests in companies in the areas of climate and environmental protection, water management and renewable energies, and
  • the Deka Portfolio Nachhaltigkeit Globale Aktien fund, which was launched in 2019.

Learn more about Deka Investment’s products.

Since October 2019, DekaBank has also offered sustainable product solutions for retail clients in the form of structured products and certificates.

Sustainability in the business area of Real Estate Asset Management

"Sustainable together. With good reason."

Embedded in the Deka Group's sustainability strategy, Deka Immobilien has developed its own sustainability strategy based on the principle “Sustainable together. With good reason". As the Deka Group's real estate specialist, Deka Immobilien aim to be one of the leading providers of sustainable open-ended real estate funds. In doing so, we attach great importance to sustainable standards and take responsibility towards future generations seriously.

Our aim: Climate neutral by 2050

In line with the Paris Climate Agreement, Deka Immobilien aims to limit global warming to below 2°C compared with pre-industrial levels and to achieve climate neutrality for all business activities and the entire portfolio by 2050.

Our path to these environmental goals:

In order to achieve these goals, a whole range of actions have been defined, which will be applied specifically. Some selected actions are:
 
  • Development of a sustainable real estate portfolio
  • Equipment and management of buildings: Use of innovative technologies to reduce energy consumption and thus also the CO2 footprint, including a cooperation with MeteoViva Climate. By using forward-looking, intelligent building management, MeteoViva Climate is able to reduce energy consumption and energy costs by an average of around 20%.
  • Use of renewable energies for our common areas in Germany. Through the changeover to green electricity and green gas, nearly 40,000 tons of CO2 can be compensated per year.
  • Use of sustainability-related certification of fund properties as a quality feature of the managed properties in terms of sustainability: At the end of 2021, a total of 313 properties (2020: 267) valued at around 34.7 billion EUR (2020: 28.5 billion EUR) were certified.
  • Recognition of international standards such as the Principles for Responsible Investment and the UN Global Compact.

Learn more about sustainability at Deka Immobilien.

Sustainability in the lending business

In its lending business, Deka always applies its financing principles, which are based on the Deka Group’s credit risk strategy.

Due to the ESG criteria in its lending business, Deka Group has excluded various types of financing as a matter of principle for some years now (see the negative list in the Sustainability Report). In addition, we have defined sustainable investment areas in which we intend to become more active (see the positive list in the Sustainability Report).

Real Estate Lending

In the area of commercial real estate financing, DekaBank concentrates on transparent markets worldwide, meaning liquid markets with a secure legal environment. Due to their size, transparency and liquidity, these markets are of central importance for the Real Estate business division.

When making investments, we look at more than just profitability: With every new business transaction, we also analyse environmental and social criteria for real estate loan financing and include them in the evaluation.

Special-purpose financing

DekaBank’s special-purpose financing comprises transport financing, infrastructure and export financing and also Sparkasse and public financing. Ships we finance must also fly a flag listed by the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control and comply with IMO 2020 requirements. Ships we finance must also fly a flag listed by the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control and comply with IMO 2020 requirements.

The infrastructure and export credit portfolio includes financing for wind and solar parks, hydropower plants, research centres, hospitals and roads. A further focus is on municipal utilities that implement new energy concepts with the objective of substituting coal-based electricity with renewable energy sources.

Read more about our financing of wind farms in Scandinavia in the 2020 Sustainability Report.