DIC Selected for Inclusion for the Second Consecutive Year in MSCI Indexes Established by Leading Global ESG Index Firm

Tokyo, Japan–DIC Corporation announced that it has been selected for inclusion for the second consecutive year in two environmental, social and governance (ESG) indexes established by MSCI Inc. of the United States. The two indexes—comprising Japanese equities—are the MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index and the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index (WIN). Both indexes have been selected by the Government Pension Investment Fund for Japan (GPIF) as benchmarks for its ESG investment strategy.

The stocks selected by both of these indexes are evaluated based on publicly available information on companies included in the MSCI Japan IMI Top 500 Index, which comprises Japan’s 500 leading companies as measured by market capitalization. The MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index selects companies with high ESG performance within each industry sector, while MSCI WIN selects companies that promote and maintain gender diversity. Selection for inclusion in these two indexes qualified DIC as a constituent of the MSCI ESG Leaders Index for 2018.

DIC believes that its ESG-related initiatives, as well as its commitment to proactive information disclosure, were significant factors in its selection for these indexes. Recently, positive evaluation of the Company’s initiatives and approach earned it inclusion in the SNAM Sustainability Index, which is managed by Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Asset Management Co., Ltd. (SNAM).

Underscoring the priority it places on ESG initiatives, in January 2018 DIC established the ESG Unit. The DIC Group will continue to strengthen its ESG initiatives while working to ensure an accurate grasp of related social imperatives with the goal of delivering the value that it stakeholders—including its customers, business partners, local communities, shareholders and investors, and employees—expect.

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