The DAX® 50 ESG index employs two complementary approaches to incorporate ESG principles into the selection criteria:

The index features standardized negative screens for companies that are involved in controversial weapons, military contracting, nuclear power, thermal coal, tobacco, fossil fuels – or fail the standardized ESG screens within the Global Standard Screening.

The methodology considers environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores in the stock selection.

The methodology is designed to ensure an ESG index which serves as a benchmark for sustainable German equity portfolios.
The selection universe for the DAX® 50 ESG index is the HDAX® index, which comprises all equities that belong to either the DAX®, MDAX® or TecDAX® indices.

From this universe, the DAX® 50 ESG tracks the performance of the 50 largest, most liquid German market stocks that have passed standardized ESG screens related to Global Standards Screening, as well as the involvement in controversial weapons, tobacco production, thermal coal, nuclear power and military contracting, and feature comparably good performance based on their Environmental, Social and Governance criteria. This index applies screens in alignment with the ESMA guidelines on funds’ names and the BSW sustainable finance codex using ESG or sustainability-related terms. 

Selected components are weighted by free-float market capitalization, subject to a 7% component cap.

The DAX® 50 ESG is designed to be suitable as underlying for derivatives, structured products and exchange-traded funds, and to be used as the ESG flagship benchmark for the German equity market. 

For a description of the selection methodology and the review calendar, Please click here.