Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes -- 2011. Where is the US Leadership?

Dow Jones in conjunction with SAM has updated their sustainability indexes for 2011, and just one American company has been identified as being at the top of its industry.  Pepsico gained the top ranking in the Food and Beverage sector.  (Pepsico is also a constituent of the Boardwalk ESG Titans portfolio.) 

DJ and SAM review 19 sectors to identify companies that meet specific criteria for across environmental, social and economic dimensions.  SuperSector Leaders, such as Pepsico, have the highest scores in that sector.

While the world's largest stock markets (US, UK, Germany, France and Japan) account for well over half of the world's stock market value, together they placed a paltry FIVE sector leaders combined.  In contrast, smaller countries fared much better:  South Korea with four members, Netherlands (3), Australia (2), Switzerland (2) and Spain (2). Even Brazil had one.  Clearly, bigger isn't necessarily better.

In many ways, sustainability is an indication of preparedness for change  -- change that is fast and unpredictable.  It is apparent then that we need to look to the smaller markets for many of tomorrow's leaders.

Read more