This year, 82 companies met the JSE’s Socially Responsible Index (SRI) requirements relating to environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies and management practices, compared with only 72 companies in 2013, as companies become more aware of how they communicate sustainability management initiatives to their investors.

To compile the 2014 index, the JSE had assessed all 156 members of the FTSE/JSE All Share Index, and only considered publicly available information to encourage greater corporate transparency.

“This year, eight companies were included in the SRI Index for the first time and nine others were identified as best performers,” JSE SRI head Corli le Roux said.

For a company to be classified as a best performer, it had to meet all the core requirements of the index in terms of social and governance aspects, as well as that of the best performer environmental threshold. These companies also had to meet all of the index requirements on climate change and had to have an independent chair.

The 2014 nine best performers were mining companies Anglo American, Anglo American Platinum, Royal Bafokeng Platinum and Lonmin, industrial brand management company Barloworld, sugar producer Illovo Sugar, telecommunications giant Vodacom, banking group Standard Bank and healthcare group Netcare.

The JSE pointed out that, of the nine best performers, Standard Bank had achieved this status consistently since 2007.

“Standard Bank is delighted to be recognised as the only company on the JSE SRI index to have achieved ‘best performer’ status for eight consecutive years. This is an acknowledgement not only of great efforts in ongoing improvements in disclosure but illustrates that teams of Standard Bank staff are considering sustainability in everyday business practice,” Standard Bank sustainability management head Karin Ireton said.

Meanwhile, Le Roux noted that this was the second year during which all small cap companies were also considered for inclusion in the index.

“Smaller companies are showing increased reporting and engagement on ESG issues and, this year, 11 met the requirements of the index. This is the highest number of small cap companies ever included,” she said.

In addition to the 11 small cap companies included, the SRI comprised 34 Top 40 companies and 36 mid cap companies.

Of the 18 mining companies surveyed this year, 15 qualified for inclusion in the index, with mining companies, therefore, making up 19% of the index.

Other strong sectors included life insurance, general retailers, general industrials and food producers, which each made up 6.3% of the index.
Further, in the 2014 index, governance areas still showed the strongest performance with 92.9% of companies meeting overall requirements, while two-thirds of all companies met the social requirements of the SRI.
Two-thirds of all companies also met the environmental requirements of the SRI Index, with medium-impact companies faring best in terms of their environmental policy and reporting. High-impact companies, however, still grappled with coverage of all key environmental issues.