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1 The management company’s sustainability work – September 2019

The management company’s sustainability work

September 2019


Contents

Production: SEB Investment Management ABImages: SEB, Symbiotics, Unsplash.com

Our sustainability work ..................3 Responsible investments ...............4 Our strategy ......................................5 Sustainable investments ................6 What do our customers think? ......7 Climate impacts ................................8 Microfinance funds ....................... 10 Active ownership .......................... 12 Our sustainability journey ........... 15

Fondbolagets hållbarhetsarbete – juni 20192

© Copyright SEB Investment Management AB, 2019. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in databases or transferred by electronic, mechanical or other means, including photocopying or recording, without the prior written approval of SEB Investment Management AB.

Dear reader,

Together we face major challenges, and also future opportunities. Climate change, social unrest and digitalisation are all development areas that are affecting our lives, and we know that our actions as a management company have an impact on people, the environment and society. As a management company, we consider sustainability to be a natural aspect of our work, and our vision is to be the Nordic region’s leading asset manager. Our sustainable funds, corporate governance work and microfinance funds are examples of development activities during the years that we believe contribute to positive impacts. Our ambitions are high, and I am convinced that our skilled and dedicated employees will help us to achieve our vision to be a sustainability role model.

Javiera Ragnartz CEO, SEB Investment Management AB

Past performance is not indicative of future results. The value of investments and income derived from investments may rise as well as fall. Future returns are not guaranteed, and a loss of principal may occur. The fund’s value may vary significantly due to the composition and the management methods used by the fund company. Key investor information documents and prospectuses are available on www.sebgroup.lu.

3The management company’s sustainability work – September 2019

How do you work with sustainability in the management company? “We commenced our sustainability journey in the mid-1990s,” says Hans Ek, the management company’s sustainability officer. “At that time, sustainability was a niche activity in the sector, while today it accounts for a large part of our business. We work with sustainability according to the principles of include, engage and exclude. Exclude is often the easiest to understand and accept, but it does not say very much about what we actually invest in. Instead, we seek to focus on including good companies and to influence companies facing sustainability challenges to develop in the right direction – we believe that this is how to make the greatest difference!”

How do you do this in practice? “When we include companies, we seek exposure to, for example, various sustainability themes, such as a reduced climate impact. We also engage in active dialogue with companies, in order to influence them in the right direction. This may be companies that we have invested in, but which we think have got onto the ‘wrong track’ for various reasons; or companies that we have not invested in, but which belong to a sector that needs to be nudged in the right direction. Our funds also set the bar high – the management company’s core criteria – when it comes to excluding companies in various sectors or business areas, such as companies that fail to comply with international norms.” (Read more on page 5.)

What is your focus going forward? “We’re really pleased with the questionnaire that we’ve sent out to our customers for two consecutive years now, to find out to which of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, SDG, our customers think we should give priority in our work. As a consequence of the survey, my colleagues in the ESG* team and I will intensify our efforts to influence companies’ sustainability activities.” (Read more about the questionnaire survey and the results on page 7.)

*ESG is a term used in the financial sector and stands for Environmental, Social and Governance issues.

Did you know that ...

Our sustainability work

SEB’s direct environmental impact

SEB works actively to reduce its direct environmental impact. Our target is to reduce carbon footprint with 20 per cent for the period 2016 – 2020. Business travel is the most challenging source of emissions which increased with 3 per cent since 2016, while energy, company cars and paper consumption continued to decrease. As an example, the number of printed annual statements to customers decreased with 47 per cent (2017), from 14.8 million to 7.8 million paper sheets.

SEB was nominated as Sweden’s sustainability player of the year in 2018 in Söderberg & Partners’ Traffic Light Report.

In 2018, SEB received a high rating (A) from PRI (the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment).

30% of the assets managed by the mana-gement company adheres to our most extensive sustainability criteria.

Our planet faces greater challenges than ever before, and we know that how we operate as a bank has an impact on people, the environment and society. This is a long journey, with no end in sight, but we are proud of the work we have instigated to contribute to a sustainable world in the longer term. SEB’s management company has set the bar high when it comes to sustainability and in recent years we have further strengthened our sustainability work. Working actively with sustainable and responsible investments is thus a central aspect of the management company’s day-to-day activities.

The management company’s ESG team: Hans Ek, Johan Strandberg, Mathilda Larsson, Christina Strand Wadsjö and Anette Andersson


The management company’s sustainability journey began in the mid-1990s. This was when we launched our first ethical funds, with focus on Sweden, Europe and global markets, and our first non-profit funds, in cooperation with WWF and the Swedish Cancer Society. In 2000, we engaged in cooperation with Global Ethical Standards (GES), in order to increase our engagement activities outside the Nordic region. Today, this cooperation is the basis for the exclusion criteria we have drawn up and apply. Since then, we have raised our sustainability ambition level by signing the UN Global Compact in 2004, as well as the UN’s

Principles for Sustainable Investments (PRI) in 2008. In 2016, SEB was the first and only Nordic bank to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Today, sustainability is an integrated element of the entire management company’s work, and the Stockholm office is staffed with around 115 specialists in the areas of portfolio management, securities analysis, product liability, fund information, fund administration and risk. The management company also has a separate five-member sustainability team. The team contributes specialist expertise and works with sustainability issues on an integrated basis, in collaboration with the rest of our operations.

We seek to provide information about our sustainability work in an open and transparent way, helping unitholders to gain a true and fair picture of the management company’s risks, standpoints and active sustainability work.

Responsible investments

The management company believes that responsible actions is a prerequisite for long-term, sustainable value creation. Responsible investments include the integration of environmental, social and corporate governance factors in investment processes and investment decisions, in order to better handle risks and opportunities, which is expected to contribute to sustainable, long-term returns. The management company therefore has a special responsibility to act in the unitholders’ interests concerning such matters.

SEB – for the third consecutive year – is the only Nordic bank included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

SEB’s management company has launched six microfinance funds that reach more than 23 million entrepreneurs.

SEB’s green bond fund was the winner in Söderberg & Partners’ 2018 Traffic Light report on ESG funds.

Our sustainability work is described on the management company’s website. Information on the management company’s work can also be found in SEB’s annual sustainability report. You can read more on the management company’s website: www.sebgroup.lu/private/sustainability.



We work with sustainable investments in a number of different ways – ranging from actively seeking to influence companies in the right direction with regard to sustainability, to include companies according to various sustainability themes. Since we signed PRI, we have also chosen to go considerably further than solely excluding controversial weapons and nuclear weapons from our funds.

In January 2019, SEB was involved in the issue of the first blue bond for the Baltic (earmarked project to protect the fragile aquatic environment in the Baltic area).

In 2017, SEB announced its first own green bond for a value of EUR 500 million (in volume terms, SEB was the third-largest player in the world to help companies make climate-related investments).

Our strategy: three different methods

Include Companies that perform well in terms

of sustainability. In our portfolio management, we give great weight to identifying and seeking exposure to important sustainability themes. We aim to integrate sustainability in our investments because we believe that companies that take a long-term approach to sustainability will be more successful. We integrate sustainability in our management in different ways: from taking sustainability issues into account, to making sustainability a decisive factor in our stock selection. Our sustainable global equity fund, for example, has a strong focus on investing in companies that have reduced their climate impact in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, water use and handling of toxic emissions.

Engage Companies through active ownership.

For Swedish companies of which we are often among the largest owners, we are in direct dialogue with the companies’ managements and boards. The management company has a special focus on remuneration programmes and board membership diversity in particular, with the representation of women as an example. In the Nordic region, the dialogue with the companies is usually undertaken by the fund manager responsible, in collaboration with the management company’s sustainability team. An effective way of influencing companies and achieving change is to also cooperate with other investors. For investments outside the Nordic region, this cooperation often takes place through external cooperation’s, such as Hermes EOS, IIGCC and PRI (read more on pages 12-13).

Exclude Companies that under-perform in terms of

sustainability. In our portfolio management, we seek to exclude investments in companies that operate in certain sectors or business areas that are assessed to present major sustainability challenges. Since SEB signed the PRI in 2008, we have gradually raised our ambition level and therefore do not invest in companies whose activities violate international guidelines and conventions. The high bar that we set – as the management company’s core criteria – by excluding investments in certain companies is adhered to for all SEB funds, as far as this is possible. This entails that we do not invest in controversial weapons and nuclear weapons, or companies that breach international norms. We also exclude companies that receive more than 20 per cent of their turnover from the extraction of thermal coal. In our sustainability funds, we also exclude companies that extract coal, gas or oil.



Sustainable investments

There is a growing interest in sustainable products and investments among private and institutional clients, who increasingly require their savings to contribute to a sustainable society. For more than a decade, SEB’s management companies have developed a wide range of sustainable products, as well as policies and processes that are in line with the global sustainable development goals. SEB was a global pioneer within green bonds and was the first to offer microfinance funds to institutional investors in the Nordic region, and our investment activities are based on systematic sustainability activities. Our support for entrepreneurs is another area in which SEB seeks to contribute actively to achieving the goals.

Our sustainable offering of SEB funds, domiciled in Luxembourg, has grown considerably over the last couple of years. For example, in 2015 we launched a fund that gives investors exposure to green bonds globally. The proceeds are earmarked for green bond projects such as energy efficiency, renewable energies and preventing climate change impact. The green bond journey started back in 2008 when SEB and the World Bank developed the concept of green bonds, which is designed to encourage sustainable investments. Other initiatives on the fixed income side include the launch of a sustainable global high yield fund in 2017. When it comes to equities we have during 2018 complemented our fund range with sustainable funds focusing on the Nordic countries and Europe respectively. Since before, we also offer a sustainable fund investing in global equities. Besides that we also provide a wide range of Luxembourg domiciled index funds with different levels of sustainability included in the index construction.

A growing range of sustainable funds Aiming for 1.5 degrees

SEB’s sustainable funds have during the last couple of years increased its focus on reducing the negative environmental footprint. The sustainable funds actively includes companies that perform well within several themes such as climate change, toxic waste and water management. Since 2017, when the fund shifted towards the more environmental friendly strategy, the fund has reduced its carbon footprint with 75 per cent compared to benchmark. Asset under management has increased substantially, from approx. 1.5 billion SEK in 2015 to 12.5 billion SEK at year-end 2018. The fund will continue to work actively towards meeting the pledge from Paris 2015, to limit global warming to 2 (preferably 1.5) degrees Celsius.

The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) adopted in 2015 represent a joint, integrated approach, balancing the three sustainable development cornerstones: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental issues. The financial sector has a relatively small direct environmental footprint, but it can have a great impact by meeting clients’ needs for sustainability-related financing and offering products with a sustainability perspective.

Relevant SDGs Through the management company’s activities – sustainable fund offers, microfinance funds and active ownership dialogue – we seek to contribute to the following goals:

• Quality Education

• Decent Work and Economic Growth

• Sustainable Cities and Communities

• Climate Action

Past performance is not indicative of future results. The value of investments and income derived from investments may rise as well as fall. Future returns are not guaranteed, and a loss of principal may occur. The fund’s value may vary significantly due to the composition and the management methods used by the fund company. Key investor information documents and prospectuses are available on www.sebgroup.lu

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“It was already clear last year that most fund investors want us to contribute to combating climate change, and in 2017, we therefore initiated cooperation with Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), which actively engages with the one hundred companies assessed to account for the largest global carbon dioxide emissions. This primarily concerns companies in the oil and gas industry,” says Hans Ek, the management company’s sustainability officer.

“In our sustainability funds, we also invest in companies that work actively to reduce their water consumption, handle their waste and cut their carbon dioxide emissions. Since investors responded to the sustainability questionnaire in the autumn of 2018, SEB has joined the international CDP organisation’s water programme. The programme collects data from 175 companies throughout the world on their efforts to reduce their water consumption. Investors can use this data to pick out the companies that perform best in terms of cutting their water consumption.

The management company is also assessing various cooperation initiatives for how we can contribute to further education in developing countries, since in these countries also a lot of work is affected by digitalisation. One approach is for SEB to offer microfinance funds directed at institutional investors, thereby granting loans to around 23 million small businesses and entrepreneurs in South America, Africa and Asia – primarily women – with the aim of improving conditions for small businesses and helping more families to be able to afford education for their children.

For two consecutive years, we have asked our fund investors which sustainability issues they wish us to focus on. Together, we can have a great impact and influence investments in a more sustainable direction. A survey of 250,000 customers in 2018 showed, just as in previous years, that most of them chose the “Climate Action” SDG. “Clean Water and Sanitation” came a close second, while “Quality Education” came third.

What do our customers think?

1%

4%

5%

11%

12%

12%

13%

13%

13%

14%

16%

18%

19%

20%

29%

47%

48%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

17. Partnerships for the goals

11. Sustainable cities and communities

10. Reduced inequalities

7. Affordable and clean energy

9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

5. Gender equality

15. Life on land

8. Decent work and economic growth

1. No poverty

16. Peace, justice and strong institutions

3. Good health and well-being

2. Zero hunger

12. Responsible consumption and production

14. Life below water

4. Quality education

6. Clean water and sanitation

13. Climate action


A sustainable global equity SEB fund MSCI World (Net Return)

Climate impacts

As a client, you can help to make a difference! By investing in one of our sustainable funds, you can help to drive the financial markets towards reduced carbon dioxide emissions. Our sustainability funds adhere to the management company’s highest sustainability criteria when it comes to excluding investment in certain companies. This entails that, besides the management company’s core criteria, these funds also exclude companies that extract coal, gas or oil, for example. Since we initiated our sustainable funds in 2016, we have re-directed around SEK 25 billion from investments in coal-, gas- or oil-based companies to other industries that have greater focus on sustainability. You can read more about the sustainable funds’ working methods in the sustainability information at www.sebgroup.lu.

What is the fund’s climate impact? We currently report the carbon footprints of 92 per cent of our equity funds. For the rest of the equity funds, there is currently insufficient underlying data for us to be able to report their carbon footprints. For other asset classes, there is currently a lack of carbon measurement tools in the market.

A fund’s climate impact shows the total amount of CO2e* that is released via the investments included in the fund. The relative carbon footprint calculates emissions in relation to a specific sum invested in the fund. Below, one of our funds is presented, compared to its index, and the relative climate impact per SEK 1,000 invested (kg CO2e).

3,64 kg

14,88 kg

*Carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) is a measurement unit that makes it possible to measure various greenhouse gases in the same way. Expressing emissions of a specific greenhouse gas in CO2e states how much carbon dioxide would be needed to achieve the same climate impact. There is more information about this measurement at https://sebgroup.com/about-seb/who-we-are/organisation/our-divisions/about-the-fund-management-company-seb-im-ab/carbon-footprint. To measure our funds’ carbon footprints, we cooperate with the external analysis firm ISS-Ethix Climate Solutions.


A sustainable global equity SEB fund MSCI World (Net Return)

3,64 kg 16 kg 26 kg

267 kg

A sustainable global equity SEB fund

100-km car journey 1 kg beef Return flight Stockholm-London

Average energy use of a Sweden

household during a month

Sources for the calculations: Car journey – Swedish Transport Administration / Beef – Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences / Air travel – The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) UK / Energy use in households – Swedish Energy Agency, Statistics Sweden (SCB), Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

320 kgWhat is the fund’s climate impact compared to some everyday examples? The carbon footprint gives a snapshot view of the equity portfolio’s carbon emissions. The calculations are not comprehensive and indirect emissions are not included. The measurement does not describe how the portfolio contributes to a low-carbon society. There is more information about this measurement at www.seb.se/fondbolaget. The graph below shows the relative climate impact of a SEB sustainable global equity fund, per SEK 1,000 invested in the portfolio, compared to various everyday examples (kg CO2e).


The combination of a return on investment and opportunities to contribute to better living standards for poorer people in developing countries is attracting more and more investors, and since 2013, SEB has launched six microfinance funds targeted at institutional investors. These funds intermediate capital to the very poorest people in the world. “Microfinancing is vital for sustainable economic development in growth markets,” says Hetal Damani, who manages the funds together with Camilla Löwenhielm.

SEB’s microfinance funds

SEB is one of Europe’s largest managers of microfinance funds, which today are available to institutional investors. The funds reach more than 23 million entrepreneurs in over 40 developing countries, and the total assets under management exceed SEK 7 billion. By investing in local microfinancing institutions, microloans are offered to small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries, giving these businesses access to capital and to business development opportunities. In 2018, SEB launched the sixth microfinance fund, which is directly related to the UN’s sustainable development goals. The fund focuses on three areas: financial inclusion, financing of small businesses, and project and business development. The ambition is to use this solution to contribute to achieving most of the SDGs.

Microfinance funds

Microfinance client story

Name: Marie Njengue Country: Kamerun Location: Yaoundé Loan amount from microfinance institution (USD): 93–1 900 Marie Njengue is 50 years old and has seven children, a few grandchildren and three other persons for whom she is a caretaker. As a result of joining a women’s group, she became a microfinance client in 1999. The loan allowed her to increase her food stocks and pay back her loan. Step by step, Marie succeeded in obtaining larger loans, which she always managed to pay back on time. This helped her to diversify her product range and to switch from the status of retailer to wholesaler. Furthermore, Marie was able to pay for her childrens’ education and cover her family’s living costs.

Microfinancing gives access to capital and financial services in order to meet the needs of individuals and businesses which would not otherwise have access to these basic services. Microfinancing is offered as credit facilities, savings schemes, payment services, insurance and other basic financial products, in order to improve social and economic development. This provides low- and middle-income earners with the services they need to start up businesses, or grow existing businesses, and enhances individual people’s capacity to handle financial crises, accumulate assets and invest in human capital, such as health and education.

Business: Wholesaler of seasonal fruits and vegetables

Hetal Damani & Camilla Löwenhielm, responsible for the microfinance funds.

Symbiotics is an AIFM for SEB’s range of microfinance funds, and provides investment advisory services to SEB Investment Management AB with regards to investments into the microfinance sector. The microfinance funds are registered for distribution in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

11The management company’s sustainability work – September 2019The management company’s sustainability work – September 2019 11

SEB is one of Europe’s largest managers of microfinance funds, which today are available to institutional investors. The funds reach more than 23 million entrepreneurs in over 40 developing countries, and the total assets under management exceed SEK 7 billion. By investing in local microfinancing institutions, microloans are offered to small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries, giving these businesses access to capital and to business development opportunities.

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We are often among the largest shareholders in Swedish companies. In these companies, we engage in direct dialogue with management groups and boards. A typical dialogue concerning improvement measures might consider issues related to risks and opportunities within the environment, social aspects or business ethics.

“Outside the Nordic region, where we’re usually smaller shareholders, we cooperate with other investors, headed by the umbrella organisation Hermes EOS, one the world’s leading companies within corporate engagement. Our cooperation with Hermes EOS commenced in 2016, when we as a management company were involved in more than 700 company dialogues. In 2018, the equivalent figure was close to 900 company dialogues. If the dialogues do not lead to change after a reasonable period of time, we may exclude the company from our investments, if this is deemed to be in the unitholders’ best interests. The unitholders’ interests always come first, so that it’s not always appropriate to divest a company directly, at short notice. We are also a member of 32 Swedish companies’ nomination committees, and we

vote at AGMs and by proxy voting (voting via a power of attorney),” says Johan Strandberg, responsible for ownership issues within the management company.

With regard to proxy voting, we cooperate with Nordic Investor Services (NIS), which is a Nordic advisory and consulting agency for institutional investors, with focus on analysis and advisory services concerning corporate governance. The ESG team is also responsible for voting taking place, in consultation with relevant portfolio managers. Some focus areas with regard to voting are remuneration programmes and diversified boards, such as the inclusion of female board members. One of our sustainability goals is to increase the ratio of female members of company boards. During the past year, we have been involved in and contributed to around 40 per cent of the nominated board members being women in the 32 nomination committees of which we are part.

How we exert influence through active ownership

In 2018, as a management company we voted at 178 AGMs.

As a management company we took part in 32 nomination committees in 2018.

The management company engaged in around 890 company dialogues in 2018.

Johan Strandberg, responsible for ownership issues within the management company.

As an active owner, we always seek to protect unitholders’ common interests concerning ownership issues, and to influence companies’ sustainability activities. We are in active dialogue with the management groups and boards of the Nordic companies of which we are major shareholders. We are also in direct dialogue with companies outside the Nordic region, although mainly in cooperation with other investors via various initiatives.

Examples of collaboration and company engagement

Hermes EOS At the international level, together with other investors, we collaborate with Hermes EOS, one of the world’s leading players within corporate engagement. Hermes is in continuous direct dialogue with corporate managements and boards. Through our collaboration with other fund managers under Hermes EOS’ leadership, the foundation is in place for us to derive even more success from our ownership dialogue with foreign companies, in which we usually hold a smaller stake. We consider direct dialogue with companies to be the most productive way to promote change and exert influence. In 2018, in cooperation with Hermes EOS, we were in dialogue with BP, Shell and Samsung Electronics, among others.

More examples of collaboration and company engagement are presented on page 13.



Examples of collaboration and company engagement (continued)PRI/Access to Medicine As an asset manager, SEB has adopted the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investments (PRI). PRI comprises six principles, as an open global initiative that was launched in 2006. SEB signed PRI in 2008, since then the principles have become a global standard for sustainable investments, and the management company is working actively to follow the intentions behind PRI. Within PRI, there are opportunities, together with other investors, to conduct company dialogue at global level, and our engagement includes the Access to Medicine initiative. Together with Access to Medicine, we are driving the issue of the availability of medicine in low- and middle-income countries, by seeking to influence 20 global pharmaceutical companies to increase the availability of medicine in these countries.

IIGCC IIGCC (Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change) is a European membership organisation for investor collaboration against climate change. Together with IIGCC, we are engaged in Climate Action 100+, which is a five-year initiative that aims to influence the 100+ companies assessed to account for the greatest global carbon dioxide emissions. This primarily concerns companies in the oil and gas industry, which have good opportunities to drive the transformation to clean energy, contributing to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. So far, 310 investors, with more than USD 32 billion in assets under management, have signed the initiative.

Norm-breaking companies Since the summer of 2017, we have conducted our own dialogue with companies with activities in occupied territory, which is a very complex issue. In 2017 and 2018, we went to Israel and conducted company dialogues on site there with a number of companies, including their largest banks. We also attended the annual Mala Conference in Tel Aviv, which is an international conference with focus on sustainability issues.

SISD – Swedish Investors for Sustainable Development The management company is a member of Swedish Investors for Sustainable Development (SISD). Collaboration with other Swedish institutional investors and SIDA within the framework of this initiative entails a clear focus on SDG 17: working via partnerships to achieve the global sustainability goals. SISD was established in 2016 as a platform for learning and benefiting from experience with the global sustainability goals, while also contributing to the international dialogue. The aim is to investigate the investors’ role, providing ideas and inspiration for sustainable development. SEB takes part in working groups for sustainable cities – with focus on clean water and renewable energy – in which the participants have, among other things, developed a sustainability bond together with the World Bank. We are also involved in the working group on anti-corruption, which is focused on creating a framework to assess companies’ value creation in relation to anti-corruption issues.

Sweden/Nordic region In Swedish and Nordic companies, in which we are often among the largest shareholders, we are in direct dialogue with company managements and boards. At the Nordic level, we also exert influence via our involvement in the nomination committees of the companies of which we are major shareholders. We also attend AGMs, where we exercise the funds’ voting rights. Our ambition is to attend the AGMs of companies of which we are major shareholders, and where our portfolio management has a strong interest in the company. In recent years, there has been particular focus on increasing the ratio of women on company boards. Another goal has been to conduct regular independent board evaluations.

Anette Andersson, sustainability specialist at the management company.

14 The management company’s sustainability work – September 201914 The management company’s sustainability work – September 2019


The management company’s sustainability journey

2018

2014

2016

2017

2015

2013

2019

2013

Launched the second microfinance fund.

Began to measure the carbon footprint of some of our funds.

Launched the sixth microfinance fund, and two sustainability equity funds with focus on the Nordics and Europe respectively.

Signed the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) for cooperation concerning water-related issues.

Asked 250,000 private customers to which sustainabile development goals they believed we should give priority.

Mandatory internal workshop on the issue of “Inclusion and Diversity” for all of the management company’s employees.

Launched the fourth microfinance fund.

Decided that, as far as possible, the management company’s funds may not invest in companies for which thermal coal accounts for more than 20 per cent of turnover.

Launched the first microfinance fund.

Exclusion of companies that develop nuclear weapons programmes or produce nuclear

weapons.

Launched the third microfinance fund and a SEB fund with focus on green bonds.

Launched the first of our sustainability funds (a sustainable global equity fund).

Launched the fifth microfinance fund and a sustainable SEB fund with focus on bonds

issued by companies with lower credit ratings.

Published a carbon dioxide emission report for most of the equity funds.

Important information This material is prepared by SEB and contains general information regarding financial instruments marketed, sold or solicited by SEB. SEB means Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ) including its subsidiaries as well as its affiliated companies. Neither this material nor the products described in it are intended for distribution or sale in the United States or to US persons, and any such distribution is not allowed. The offering of shares or units in the funds may also be restricted in other jurisdictions. This document may not be used to make an offer or solicitation with respect to the sale of shares or units where such an offer or solicitation is unlawful. Although the information in this material is based on sources deemed by SEB to be reliable, SEB assumes no liability whatsoever for incorrect or missing information or for any loss, damage or claim arising from the use of this material. Past performance does not guarantee future performance. The value of investment funds and other financial instruments may rise as well as fall and there is no guarantee you will recover your original investment. If you or a fund invests in financial instruments denominated in a foreign currency, changes in currency exchange rates can affect the return on the investment. SEB makes no representation that funds whose share or unit classes aim at hedging the fund’s return from changes in currency exchange rates will succeed in achieving this. Any tax information in this material is based on regulations valid as per the date of this presentation and may be subject to change. Note that any tax information in this material is general. Kindly contact your SEB investment advisor for tax and investment advice appropriate for your situation. You are fully and solely responsible for your investment decision. This material is not intended for or suitable as the sole basis for investment decisions. Instead, you should base your decision on the information in the fund’s product documentation, including its fact sheet, Key Investor Information Document, fund regulations and prospectus. These are available on www.sebgroup.lu

Our vision is to deliver world-class service to our customers. We assist 2,300 large corporations, 700 financial institutions, 400,000 small and medium-sized companies and 4 million private individuals with advice and financial solutions. In Sweden and the Baltic countries, we offer comprehensive financial advice and a wide range of financial services. In Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom, we have a strong focus on a full-service offering to large corporate and institutional customers. The international scope of the operations is reflected in SEB’s presence in some 20 countries with 15,000 employees. We have a long-term perspective in all of our operations and contribute to the development of markets and communities.

Our responsibility We know that the way we act affects the world in which we operate. It is our responsibility to make sure that we do business in an ethical and sustainable way, attending to our customers’ needs and protecting people and the environment. By being a well-managed and profitable company, we can use our resources, time, money and knowledge of our people to contribute to society.

About SEB Investment Management ABSEB’s Swedish management company – SEB Investment Management AB – that was founded in 1978, is one of the Nordic region’s largest asset managers. The management company manages around SEK 950 billion (as at 31 December 2018) for both private individuals and institutional investors. The asset management activities range from broad solution products to niche funds within individual asset classes such as equities, fixed income securities, hedge funds, commodities and private equity.

SEB Investment Management AB’s company reg. no.: 556197-3719.

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