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  3. Investment funds and investment products 101

Investment funds and investment products 101

The product group includes equity fund, bond funds, mixed funds and investments products. Nordic Swan Ecolabel funds must fulfil requirements within four different sustainability strategies. 

•    Exclude the worst companies and industries within coal, oil, gas, nuclear, tobacco, weapons, and non-compliance with international norms. 
•    Include more sustainable companies, by rewarding companies with strong sustainability work seen from a ESG and EU Taxonomy perspective. The criteria also have a special focus on sectors with high GHG emissions and / or high risk of biodiversity impact.
•    Exercise active ownership, by engaging with companies where there is uncertainty as to whether they live up to international norms if the company is not sold. 
•    Publish all holdings in the portfolio and publish an annual sustainability report. 

In addition, the fund shall collect points by showing a strong green inclusion or a strong active ownership. 
 

Below you will find all the necessary documents and background information to apply for the Nordic Swan Ecolabel.

    1. Start your application process by reading the criteria document and find out if your product can obtain the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. 
    2. Read your Application Guide.
    3. Request login credentials.
    4. Now you are ready to enter the Nordic Ecolabelling Portal.

     

    Portal sign in                               Get login credentials

     

    Should you wish to transfer your licence, please use this form. 

  • Fees valid from 1 January 2025

    The criteria document for funds is an overall document for the commodity groups:

    • Investment funds
    • Investment products

    Fees are charged per commodity group according to the price list below.

    Application fee

    Application fee including one on-site inspection within the Nordic countries

    3 348 EUR (per fund) excl. VAT.

    Index funds:
    2 232 EUR (per fund) excl. VAT for index funds that base their application on an index that has been pre-evaluated and approved by Nordic Ecolabelling.

    Index providers and investment products:
    138 EUR per hour excl. VAT.
    Renewal fee 1 673 EUR (per fund) excl. VAT.

    Annual licence fee

    Annual Nordic licence fee The annual licence fee is based on the size (AUM*) and the ongoing charges of the fund.

    The licence fee is determined by calculating the average AUM held by Nordic unitholders (during the period of the year when the fund has had a valid Nordic Swan Ecolabel license). VAT is added.

    Ongoing charges of fund | Licence fee
    ≥ 1.00%   0.0015% of AUM
    <1.00 %   0.0014% of AUM
    <0.80%    0.0013% of AUM
    <0.60%    0.0012% of AUM

    * Assets Under Management
    Annual fee, index providers 1 673 EUR (one-day inspection) + travel costs. Please refer to "Fees for on-site inspections". If more than a working day is required for the inspection, an extra fee of 138 EUR per hour is charged.
    Annual fee, Investments products 2 232 EUR + travel costs.
    Minimum fee for a Nordic fund licence 1 673 EUR per year excl. VAT.
    Maximum fee for a Nordic fund licence 10 300 EUR per year excl. VAT and 103 000 EUR per group, at a minimum 2 232 EUR per fund.

    NB! Funds can also be marketed with the Nordic Swan Ecolabel outside the Nordic countries. The licence fee for funds is based on the AUM that Nordic unitholders hold in the Nordic Swan Ecolabelled fund.

    Fees for extensions/alternation of the licence

    Extension/alteration of existing licence Fees will be charged according to how long it takes to deal with the matter:
    - Less than 4 hours: 418 EUR excl. VAT
    - Between 4 and 8 hours: 836 EUR excl. VAT
    - More than 8 hours: 1 673 EUR excl. VAT

    Fees for on-site inspections

    Extra fee for additional on-site inspection within the Nordic countries 557 EUR excl. VAT per visit
    On-site inspection outside the Nordic region, but within Europe *) 1 673 EUR excl. VAT per visit
    On-site inspection outside Europe *) 2 790 EUR excl. VAT per visit

    *) There is an extra fee of 1 115 EUR per day, if the inspection takes more than one day

     

    Fees valid from 1 January 2024

    The criteria document for funds is an overall document for the commodity groups:

    • Investment funds
    • Investment products

    Fees are charged per commodity group according to the price list below.

    Application fee

    Application fee including one on-site inspection within the Nordic countries

    3 251EUR (per fund) excl. VAT.

    Index funds:
    2 167EUR (per fund) excl. VAT for index funds that base their application on an index that has been pre-evaluated and approved by Nordic Ecolabelling.

    Index providers and investment products:
    134 EUR per hour excl. VAT.
    Renewal fee 1 625 EUR (per fund) excl. VAT.

    Annual licence fee

    Annual Nordic licence fee The annual licence fee is based on the size (AUM*) and the ongoing charges of the fund.

    The licence fee is determined by calculating the average AUM held by Nordic unitholders (during the period of the year when the fund has had a valid Nordic Swan Ecolabel license). VAT is added.

    Ongoing charges of fund | Licence fee
    ≥ 1.00%   0.0015% of AUM
    <1.00 %   0.0014% of AUM
    <0.80%    0.0013% of AUM
    <0.60%    0.0012% of AUM

    * Assets Under Management
    Annual fee, index providers 1 625 EUR (one-day inspection) + travel costs. Please refer to "Fees for on-site inspections". If more than a working day is required for the inspection, an extra fee of 134 EUR per hour is charged.
    Annual fee, Investments products 2 167 EUR + travel costs.
    Minimum fee for a Nordic fund licence 1 625 EUR per year excl. VAT.
    Maximum fee for a Nordic fund licence 10 000 EUR per year excl. VAT and 100 000 EUR per group, at a minimum 2 167 EUR per fund.

    NB! Funds can also be marketed with the Nordic Swan Ecolabel outside the Nordic countries. The licence fee for funds is based on the AUM that Nordic unitholders hold in the Nordic Swan Ecolabelled fund.

    Fees for extensions/alternation of the licence

    Extension/alteration of existing licence Fees will be charged according to how long it takes to deal with the matter:
    - Less than 4 hours: 406 EUR excl. VAT
    - Between 4 and 8 hours: 812 EUR excl. VAT
    - More than 8 hours: 1 625 EUR excl. VAT

    Fees for on-site inspections

    Extra fee for additional on-site inspection within the Nordic countries 541 EUR excl. VAT per visit
    On-site inspection outside the Nordic region, but within Europe *) 1 625 EUR excl. VAT per visit
    On-site inspection outside Europe *) 2 709 EUR excl. VAT per visit

    *) There is an extra fee of 1 038 EUR per day, if the inspection takes more than one day.

  • In the criteria document, you can read about how to document and verify compliance for each requirement.

  • 2.4 ⇛ 2.5: Prolongation of the validity of the criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling decided on January 7, 2025, to prolong the validity of the criteria until March 31, 2027. The new version is called 2.5.

    2.3 ⇛ 2.4: Adjustment of criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling decided on 12 March, 2024, to make the following adjustments:

    • Adjust requirement O13 and P2 so that a validated 1.5° Near Term SBT can be used until January 31, 2026, based on that the number of companies with a validated Net-Zero SBT is still low.
    • Adjust requirement O13, bullet point 4, by specifying that the comparison is done by its peers.
    • Adjust requirement P1 so that OpEx can be used in the formula to calculate EU-taxonomy alignment.

    The new version is called 2.4.

    2.2 ⇛ 2.3: Prolongation of the validity of the criteria

    The criteria of Investment fund and products have been prolonged by 12 months until January 31, 2026.

    2.1 ⇛ 2.2: Adjustment of criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling decided on March 29 2023 the following:

    • Adjust requirement O13 were an additional option was added to eligibility 3 for the aluminium and steel sectors.
    • Adjust requirement O13 were an additional option to calculate GHG intensity in eligibility option 4 was added for some sectors.

    The new version is called 2.2 and is valid until 31 January 2025.

    2.0 ⇛ 2.1: Adjustment of criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling decided on the 15 September 2022 to make the following adjustments:

    • Adjust requirement O13 so that a validated 1.5° Near Term SBT can be used until 1 June 2024.
    • Adjust requirement O13 so that proxies for GHG emissions can be used until 1 June 2024.
    • Adjust requirement O14 so that it is specified that the EU Taxonomy analysis shall include objectives 3-6.
    • Adjust requirement P3 so that engagement in companies outside the portfolio may account for up to half of the total engagement. 
    • Nordic Ecolabelling further decided on the 8 November 2022 that in requirement O9 the exclusion of companies that are under sanction by the EU or UN was added.

    The new version is called 2.1 and is valid until 31 January 2025.

    2.0: Adoption of criteria

    The Nordic Ecolabelling Board decided on 15 February 2022 to adopt new criteria for investment funds. Version 2.0 is valid until 31 January 2025.

    1.3 ⇛ 1.4: Prolongation of the validity of the criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling decided on the 15 Februari 2022 to prolong the validity of the criteria to the 31 March 2023. The new version is called 1.4.

    1.2 ⇛ 1.3: Extention of criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling decided on the 6 May 2020 to extend the criteria to include investment products investing in Nordic Swan Ecolabelled investment funds. The new version is called 1.3.

    1.1 ⇛ 1.2: Prolongation of the validity of the criteria

    Nordic Ecolabelling decided the 22 Februari 2020 to prolong the validity of the criteria to the 30 June 2022. Furthermore, an adjustment of requirement O6 was made. The new version is called 1.2.

    1.0 ⇛ 1.1: Adjustment of criteria

    The Nordic Ecolabelling Board decided on 14 March 2018 that qualified non corporate green bonds can be included when the applicant shows that the fund can apply for a license. The new version is called 1.1.

    1.0: Adoption of criteria

    The Nordic Ecolabelling Board decided on 14 June 2017 to adopt criteria for investment funds. Version 1.0 is valid until 30 June 2020.

     

  • In the background document below you will find reasoning and facts behind the specific requirements in the criteria document.

    Here you can also read the comments, requirement for requirement, from the public hearing.

    If the documents are in a Nordic language, you can get help in understanding the sections you need by contacting the product specialist in your chosen country below.