Deutsche Börse : EURO STOXX 50 ESG-X Index licensed to Scotiabank

Zug (Oct. 21, 2019) - Qontigo's global index provider STOXX Ltd. has licensed the EURO STOXX 50 ESG-X Index to Scotiabank to serve as an underlying asset for structured products.

The EURO STOXX 50 ESG-X Index includes a product involvement screening that follows the United Nations Global Compact principles of human and labor rights, the environment, business ethics and anti-corruption. STOXX cooperates with the ESG data provider Sustainalytics for the screening.

'Scotiabank is pleased to launch the first Principal Protected Note in Canada linked to STOXX ESG-X indices, an innovative product for investors looking to integrate environmental, social, and governance criteria into their portfolios,' said Pruyn Haskins, Global Head, Equities at Scotiabank. 'Scotiabank is proud to help grow and support the market for sustainable investment products in Canada and around the world.'

'Historically, exclusions have been employed for custom indices. Discussions with key market participants showed increasing requests from asset owners for liquid benchmarks with standardized exclusionary rules in line with their responsible-investing policy,' said Willem Keogh, STOXX's Head of ESG, Thematic and Factor Solutions. 'The ESG-X version of the iconic EURO STOXX 50 uses a free-float market cap weighting similar to the highly traded Eurozone benchmark index. It is easy to implement as a benchmark for asset owners and well-suited to serve as an underlying for derivatives, structured products or exchange traded products.'

The EURO STOXX 50 ESG-X Index shows a risk-return profile similar to its parent index and offers investors a European benchmark with exclusion criteria that are aligned with the responsible investment policies of leading asset owners.

In the selection process of the index, industry, region and country filters are applied to ensure diversification. Companies that are in contravention of the UN Global Compact Principles or are involved in Controversial Weapons activities, as identified by Sustainalytics, are excluded.

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About Qontigo
Qontigo is a financial intelligence innovator and a leader in the modernization of investment management, from risk to return. The combination of the company's world-class indices and best-of-breed analytics, with its technological expertise and customer-driven innovation enables its clients to achieve competitive advantage in a rapidly changing marketplace. Qontigo's global client base includes the world's largest financial products issuers, capital owners and asset managers. Created in 2019 through the combination of STOXX, DAX and Axioma, Qontigo is part of Deutsche Börse Group, headquartered in Eschborn with key locations in New York, Zug and London.
www.qontigo.com

About STOXX
STOXX Ltd. is Qontigo's global index provider, currently calculating a global, comprehensive index family of over 10,000 strictly rules-based and transparent indices. Best known for the leading European equity indices EURO STOXX 50, STOXX Europe 50 and STOXX Europe 600, STOXX Ltd. maintains and calculates the STOXX Global index family which consists of total market, broad and blue-chip indices for the regions Americas, Europe, Asia/Pacific and sub-regions Latin America and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as global markets.

STOXX indices are licensed to more than 600 companies around the world as underlyings for Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), futures and options, structured products and passively managed investment funds.

Qontigo's index provider STOXX is part of Deutsche Börse Group, and the administrator of the DAX indices under the European Benchmark Regulation.
www.stoxx.com

Legal disclaimer:
STOXX, Deutsche Boerse Group and their licensors, research partners or data providers do not make any warranties or representations, express or implied, with respect to the timeliness, sequence, accuracy, completeness, currentness, merchantability, quality or fitness for any particular purpose of its index data and exclude any liability in connection therewith. STOXX, Deutsche Boerse Group and their licensors, research partners or data providers are not providing investment advice through the publication of indices or in connection therewith. In particular, the inclusion of a company in an index, its weighting, or the exclusion of a company from an index, does not in any way reflect an opinion of STOXX, Deutsche Boerse Group or their licensors, research partners or data providers on the merits of that company. Financial instruments based on the STOXX® indices, DAX® indices or on any other indices supported by STOXX are in no way sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by STOXX, Deutsche Boerse Group or their licensors, research partners or data providers.