Social responsibility
Ethos is committed to respecting human rights and best practices in business ethics in all its activities, operations and business relationships.
Ethos is committed to respecting and promoting diversity, equality and human rights within its workforce and strives to create an environment in which everyone can succeed and feel safe. Professional relationships are based on trust and mutual respect and Ethos takes a firm stance against bullying and harassment.
Ethos strives to attract, retain and develop the most suitable candidates, regardless of nationality, ethnic or cultural origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion or age.
Employees and members of the board of directors undertake to comply with the provisions of the Charter of the Swiss Pension Fund Association (ASIP) and the Ethos Code of Conduct. Each year they renew their commitment to comply with the Ethos Code of Conduct and to disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
Ethos is committed to the highest ethical standards in all its business activities.
Ethos expects its business partners and suppliers to uphold the same values and observe the highest standards of professional integrity. Ethos takes environmental and social considerations into account in its purchasing decisions and in the selection of its service providers.
Ethos expects its contractors to ensure that their suppliers and subcontractors respect these considerations and to question them on these issues. In the event of concerns or proven violations of these requirements, Ethos will work with the business partner to resolve the issue, on the basis of an action plan including an escalation mechanism, and reserves the right to terminate the business relationship if the dialogue is unsuccessful.
As part of its investment activities, Ethos systematically assesses and integrates the social factors of companies, with human rights being one of the main areas of focus.
Ethos expects the companies in which its funds are invested to continuously improve their understanding of their actual and potential impact on human rights, to put in place systems to ensure respect for human rights and to take appropriate measures to remedy any violations.
Ethos strives to influence and create positive change within the companies in which it invests, in particular through active ownership (exercising voting rights and supporting shareholder resolutions in favour of human rights in particular). In line with its engagement policy, Ethos participates in collaborative engagement initiatives and conducts a number of direct engagement campaigns with companies in which human rights issues are discussed.
In addition, exclusion criteria are applied to all funds and human rights controversies are continually monitored and updated as necessary. To this end, Ethos uses external service providers (as sources of information) but always makes an independent assessment based on its values, professional judgement and key documents (such as the Ethos Principles for SRI).
Ethos strives to create a culture of dialogue in which all stakeholders can express their concerns without fear of reprisal.
In particular, employees can raise concerns confidentially and anonymously through an independent ombudsman.
Ethos is also committed to responding promptly and fairly to any complaints received. Clients can contact Ethos by mail, telephone or through their account manager.
