Dow Jones Sustainability Indices
Twenty-one Korean companies put their names on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) this year. POSCO has remained in the DJSI World Index for 11 years in a row, and Samsung SDI got back on it, while Daelim Industrial dropped out.
This year, 2,496 companies around the world were appraised, and 317 out of them made it to DJSI World. When it comes to DJSI Asia Pacific, 608 companies were tested before 145 of them, including 41 Korean, joined the index. The BNK Financial Group, CJ Cheil Jedang, and Hyundai Glovis were picked for the first time, but Kia Motors, Daelim Industrial, and Hanwha Chemical were eliminated.
In DJSI Korea, 52 out of 202 companies survived the test. New entries include Samsung SDI, CJ Cheil Jedang, LG Hausys, GS Engineering & Construction, Korea Electric Power Corporation and Hyundai Glovis. Nongshim, Daum Kakao, LG Corporation, KCC, Korea Gas Corporation, Hyundai Marine and Fire Insurance, and Hyundai Steel were unlucky.
The number of Korean companies in DJSI World remained at 21 for the third consecutive year, while that of those in DJSI Asia Pacific increased by only one after 2013. They were found to have room for improvement, especially in their corporate governance structure and ethical management. Specifically, their transparency and diversity concerning the appointment of outside directors failed to get a high score, because of some missing measures like the objective evaluation of boards of directors’ activities.