Kao Continues to be Included in All of the ESG Indices Used by the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)

The MSCI Nihonkabu ESG Select Leaders and the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index (WIN) were developed by MSCI, a U.S. company providing institutional investors around the world with various support tools for their decision making. Both indices are composed of companies selected from the MSCI Japan IMI Top 700 Index and Top 500 Index with outstanding ESG performance. These indices are widely used as important criteria by global investors who focus on companies’ ESG efforts.

The FTSE Blossom Japan Index and the FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index were developed by FTSE Russell, a member of London Stock Exchange Group. They were designed using FTSE4Good Index Inclusion Rules, based on existing international ESG standards including the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to select companies that demonstrate strong ESG efforts.

The S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index is designed to measure the performance of companies in the underlying index, the Tokyo Stock Price Index, while over- or underweighting those companies that have lower or higher levels of carbon emissions per unit of revenue.

The Morningstar Japan ex-REIT Gender Diversity Tilt Index was developed using the assessment method from the Morningstar Indexes, a US company that provides leading indexes, and the gender equality scorecard from Equileap, a company from the Netherlands that provides gender equality data, research and analysis for institutional investors.

Over the past 130 years, Kao has worked to improve people’s lives and help them realize more sustainable lifestyles—a Kirei Lifestyle. The Japanese word “kirei” describes something that is clean, well-ordered, and beautiful all at once. For Kao, this concept of “kirei” not only describes appearance but also attitude—a desire to create beauty for oneself, for other people, and for the natural world around us. Aiming to realize a more sustainable way of living, in April 2019, the Kao Group established its ESG strategy known as the Kirei Lifestyle Plan. By 2030, Kao aims to empower at least 1 billion people, to enjoy more beautiful lives. Kao also strives to have 100% of its products leave a full lifecycle environmental footprint that science says our natural world can safely absorb.
Please visit the Kao sustainability website for more information.

Kao, a Japan-based manufacturer of personal care and household products, cosmetics, and specialty chemicals creates high-value-added products and services that provide care and enrichment for the life of all people and the planet. Through its brands such as Attack laundry detergent, Bioré and Jergens skin care products, Laurier sanitary products, Curél, SENSAI, and MOLTON BROWN cosmetics, and Oribe hair care products, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people across Asia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Combined with its chemical business, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,630 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 32,600 people worldwide and has more than 130 years of history in innovation. As an enterprise that provides products people use on a daily basis, the Kao Group takes responsibility to actively reduce the environmental footprint of its products throughout the product lifecycle. This is laid out in Kao’s ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, which launched in 2019.
Please visit the Kao Group website for additional information.