Responsible Investing
We are a modern investment company with a focus on the social and environmental impact of our investments. We integrate long-term responsibility and sustainability into our business model and provide our employees with a strong ethical framework in their daily roles. DMFCO actively pursues a policy of sustainable investment and business. We are a member of the UN PRI (United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment).
Our goal is to make things transparent, flexible and adaptive to the changing needs of our investors and mortgage consumers, while considering the social and environmental implications of the mortgages. Through fair products and rates, MUNT contributes to society’s basic need for housing.
ESG factors are an integral part of DMFCO. The overall ESG philosophy of DMFCO can be described according to each of the ESG factors:
Environmental
DMFCO actively promotes mortgage financing of energy saving measures, and thereby contributes to lowering the energy use of households in the Netherlands. DMFCO follows the NHG regulation for financing energy saving measures. DMFCO is transparent about the impact of the mortgage portfolio on the environment in the Netherlands. DMFCO produces a monthly ESG report, which includes indicators for environmental impact of the portfolio of each investor, that are based on the relevant recognised market practices. The ESG report has been developed in cooperation with Sustainalytics to ensure it is in line with Green Bond standards. The ESG report includes data on the energy labels and the CO2 footprint of the properties financed by the mortgage portfolio and can be used for carbon accounting of each investor’s mortgage portfolio.
DMFCO is currently developing a climate stress analysis tool in line with DNB climate scenarios. The climate stress analysis tool developed by DMFCO’s Portfolio Management team calculates the expected loss in case of flooding for each individual investor portfolio.
Social
The underwriting criteria of MUNT mortgages reflect the duty of care by DMFCO towards consumers and are aimed to prevent excessive lending. DMFCO accepts the prevailing Dutch market standards, stimulates responsible investing and acts as a modern and prudent mortgage lender. DMFCO offers fair mortgage products and rates, thereby contributing to meeting the basic need of ‘living’. For instance, the automatic rate reduction that MUNT introduced in the market when a loan enters a new LtV category, has almost become common market practice in The Netherlands. In the special servicing process, DMFCO strives to help borrowers to stay in their house and only if all other measures fail, the property will be sold. When selling a property, the interests of borrowers are considered by minimising the total resulting loss. This usually coincides with the interests of investors.
DMFCO has developed a social reporting indicator in cooperation with Sustainalytics which shows the social impact of the DMFCO mortgage portfolio by quantifying the proportion of mortgage lending to low income households. Investors receive a monthly overview of which part of the portfolio qualifies as "Social", according to the recognised standards of Social Bonds. This data is also included in the monthly ESG report to investors.
Governance
DMFCO was established in accordance with the wishes of its investors. DMFCO is aware of the interests of the investor and strives to provide the investor with effective governance and influence, while simultaneously taking full responsibility for its entrusted tasks. DMFCO is particularly aware of the role in society that is fulfilled by the financial sector and also by its mortgage originator MUNT Hypotheken. A balanced consideration of the interests of investors and consumers is applied in establishing DMFCO’s mortgage products and rates. DMFCO uses modern standardised employment conditions without individual variable remuneration (bonuses) and strives for intrinsic motivation of its employees.
