Investment Community
Who are They?
These stakeholders include both mainstream financial analysts and Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) analysts who advise existing and potential shareholders on our performance. These analysts are located globally.
Interests and Concerns
The interests of the investment community are closely aligned to those of shareholders, both being broadly interested in good financial returns and strong Company performance and governance. Increasingly, non-financial performance is becoming more of a focus, with a greater desire to better understand governance mechanisms and the non-financial risks and mitigation measures of the organisation.
Dialogue
BHP Billiton Investor Relations & Communications is responsible for communicating with mainstream investment organisations. Typically, this involves briefing the market on key issues.
BHP Billiton Sustainable Development and Community Relations is responsible for communicating with SRI analysts. The publication of the Company’s Sustainability Report is a cornerstone of this activity. In addition an annual briefing is held for SRI analysts with a particular interest in the environmental and social performance of the Company.
Socially Responsible Investors
During the year, the Company continued to participate in key external benchmarking initiatives by the SRI sector that seek to measure the Company's sustainable development performance against others in our sector.
Participating in such programs has a number of benefits, including:
- Enabling fund managers to screen funds on the basis of Company systems and performance that support sustainability
- Providing an external opinion on the Company’s sustainability performance in relation to others in the resource sector
- Providing a useful tool internally to demonstrate both good performance and identify where improvement is required
- Assisting with supporting the business case for sustainability. The premise is that companies that manage their non-financial risks well also perform better in the long term.
The following sections outline our performance over the period in some of the key benchmarking programs:
- FTSE4Good Index
- Dow Jones Sustainability World Index
- Australian Sustainability Asset Management Sustainability Index (AuSSI)
- Business in the Community – Corporate Responsibility Index
- Johannesburg Stock Exchange SRI Index
- Carbon Disclosure Project
FTSE4Good Index
Launched in 2001, the FTSE4Good Index series has been designed to measure the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards and to facilitate investment in those companies. The series covers four markets: US, Global, UK and Europe. Each market consists of both a benchmark and a tradable index.
Over the period, we maintained our inclusion in the UK FTSE4Good Index.
Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes
The Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes (DJSI) consist of more than 300 companies that represent the top 10 per cent of the leading sustainability companies in 60 industry groups in the 34 countries covered by the biggest 2500 companies in the Dow Jones Global Indexes.
Following the recent results of the 2006 assessment, we have maintained inclusion within the DJSI and ranked as Sustainability Leader for Mining in both the DJSI World and DJSI STOXX. For further information, see our 2006 assessment.
Australian Sustainable Asset Management Sustainability Index (AuSSI)
The AuSSI was launched in February 2005 as Australia's first index to measure the financial performance of the country's sustainability leaders. It comprises the top 40 per cent in terms of sustainability, out of 184 companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Based on the methodology of Sustainable Asset Management (SAM), it applies the same research criteria as the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for which SAM selects sustainability leaders on a worldwide scale. BHP Billiton is listed as an industry leader for the Mining and Metals sector.
Business in the Community - Corporate Responsibility Index
Originally established in 2002 in the UK by Business in the Community, the Corporate Responsibility Index was developed to ensure a systematic approach to managing, measuring and reporting upon the various impacts that companies have upon society and their environment. The index works as a management tool for companies to see how their corporate responsibility activities are integrated into their mainstream business operations.
In 2005, we ranked 24th overall, and maintained our position as Mining Sector leader. In the Australian release of the index, utilising the same questionnaire and scoring system, we ranked 4th overall.
View our 2005 Corporate Responsibility Index Feedback Report (PDF 68 Kb) for further information.
Johannesburg Stock Exchange SRI Index
Launched in 2004, the JSE has developed criteria to measure the triple bottom-line performance of South African companies in the FTSE/JSE All Share Index who choose to participate. The aim is to compile an Index comprising those companies that pass the criteria requirements.
In 2006, we maintained inclusion in the Index and participated in dialogue on the future direction of the Index.
Carbon Disclosure Project
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an institutional investors' survey of FT500 Global Index companies regarding risks and opportunities presented by climate change. The CDP represents the most comprehensive survey sponsored by international institutional investors. This group of investors sign a single global request for disclosure of information on greenhouse gas emissions, which is facilitated by a UK-based investment institution with strong sustainable development credentials. Historically, the request has been limited to the FT500 largest companies in the world but in 2006 the scope has been expanded to reach over 1,900 companies. Currently, the CDP is signed by 211 institutional investors with assets of more than $31 trillion.
Our 2005 survey response was assessed, and we were included in the 2005 Climate Leadership Index, comprising the 60 'best in-class' responses.
