This is the second time that we are included in the Respect Index portfolio. We are among 23 companies who meet very high requirements and criteria of the Project. The results of the 4th edition were announced on January 31st, 2012 at twelve noon during an official conference in the WSE Quotation Hall. The certificate confirming Ciech’s participation in the Respect Index was awarded to Ryszard Kunicki – President of the Management Board of Ciech.
The most important information
This is the first Socially Responsible Investing index (SRI) in the Central and Eastern Europe. The project was introduced by the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2009 as the first composition of the Index was announced when Ciech was included into it for the first time! WSE has been implementing the project in cooperation with third party partners. The current results of the Respect Index against the background of other Warsaw Stock Exchange indices have shown that investing in socially responsible companies involves lower risks and may be very much profitable.
Project goal
The cyclical survey is addressed to WSE listed companies, except for the NewConnect listed companies, foreign companies and dual listing companies, and it is aimed at updating the index. Following the verification of satisfaction of certain criteria, the Respect Index includes listed companies operating in compliance with the highest management standards in the area of corporate governance, information governance and investor relations, as well as in the area of pro-environmental, social and employee factors. The project goal is to select companies managed in a responsible and sustainable way and to emphasise the investment attractiveness of the companies.
3 survey stages
The company classification process includes three stages. The first two stages are carried out independently and without participation of the companies, solely on the basis of generally available information. The third stage consists in direct visits in registered offices of companies and requires their consent to participation in the project. The last stage includes assessment of the companies’ maturity in the area of social responsibility made on the basis of questionnaire forms filled in by companies subject to a detailed verification carried out by the Project Partner, Deloitte. The results thereof form a basis for selection of the final list of companies – participants of the Respect Index.
4th edition
In November 2011, WSE in cooperation with the Association of Stock Exchange Issuers selected a group of companies meeting the highest standards in the area of good practice and corporate governance and asked them to fill in the Respect Index questionnaire form. The companies were to fill in the questionnaire form by the end of November 2011. The answers were verified in December. The questionnaire form, which consisted of 35 questions, verified the level and complexity of CSR areas, including: corporate governance, HR policy, environmental factors or relation with the market and customers. In the current project edition, the significance of areas connected with communication of companies with stakeholder groups, corporate governance and environment was increased. In accordance with the recent changes made to the Good Practices of Stock Exchange Listed Companies in which WSE brought the presence of women in company bodies to attention, the gender diversity issue was included in the RESPECT questionnaire form.