STOXX has announced the results of the September regular composition review of the DAX® 50 ESG, DAX® 50 ESG+, DAX® 30 ESG, DAX® ESG Target, DAX® ESG Screened, MDAX® ESG+ and MDAX® ESG Screened indices. The actions listed in this article will be effective as of September 21 this year.
Figure 1: DAX ESG indices – Review results
| Index | Additions | Deletions |
|---|---|---|
| DAX 50 ESG | Fraport Bilfinger | Lanxess Hugo Boss |
| DAX 50 ESG+ | DHL DWS Group | Beiersdorf Talanx |
| DAX 30 ESG | Bechtle DWS Group | Mercedes Benz Group Symrise |
| DAX ESG Target | Delivery Hero | Aixtron |
| DAX ESG Screened | – | – |
| MDAX ESG+ | CTS Eventim Ströer IONOS Group | Hugo Boss Fuchs Pref. RTL Group |
| MDAX ESG Screened | Ströer IONOS Group | Hugo Boss |
ESG exclusions
All DAX ESG indices listed above apply negative screening criteria to exclude companies that fail to meet certain index-specific ESG requirements. Companies are deemed ineligible for index inclusion if they do not comply with criteria such as norms-based screening[1] or controversial weapons screening[2], or if they are involved in business activities related to fossil fuels, tobacco, nuclear power or military equipment, among others.
The table below lists, for each DAX ESG index, the companies that failed to meet the index-specific ESG criteria as part of the September 2026 index review.
Figure 2: DAX ESG indices – Excluded companies
| Index | Universe | Excluded companies |
|---|---|---|
| DAX 50 ESG | HDAX | Airbus, Aumovio, BASF, Bayer, Brenntag, E.ON, Evonik Industries, Hensoldt, MTU Aero Engines, OHB, Renk, Rheinmetall, RWE, Schaeffler, Thyssenkrupp, TKMS |
| DAX 50 ESG+ | HDAX | Airbus, Aumovio, Bayer, Bilfinger, Hensoldt, MTU Aero Engines, Renk, Rheinmetall, RWE, Siemens Energy, Thyssenkrupp, TKMS |
| DAX 30 ESG | HDAX | Airbus, Aumovio, BASF, Bayer, Brenntag, E.ON, Evonik Industries, Hensoldt, MTU Aero Engines, OHB, Renk, Rheinmetall, RWE, Schaeffler AG, Thyssenkrupp, TKMS |
| DAX ESG Target | DAX and HDAX | Airbus, Bilfinger, Hensoldt, MTU Aero Engines, Renk, Rheinmetall, RWE, Thyssenkrupp, TKMS |
| DAX ESG Screened | DAX | Airbus, Bayer, Siemens Energy, E.ON, MTU Aero Engines, Rheinmetall, RWE |
| MDAX ESG+ | MDAX | Aumovio, Bilfinger, Hensoldt, Renk, Schaeffler AG, Thyssenkrupp, TKMS |
| MDAX ESG Screened | MDAX | Aumovio, Bilfinger, Hensoldt, Renk, Schaeffler AG, Thyssenkrupp, TKMS |
ISS Sustainability Performance Score – DAX 50 ESG, DAX 50 ESG+, DAX 30 ESG
For the DAX 50 ESG, DAX 50 ESG+ and DAX 30 ESG, components are selected from the HDAX® based on their ESG performance, as measured by the ISS Sustainability Performance Score. This score evaluates companies’ ESG-related risks, opportunities and impact along the corporate value chain. To calculate it, individual ratings in the areas of environment, social issues and corporate governance are combined and aggregated. The score ranges from 0 to 100, with 100 representing an excellent ESG rating.
As of September 2026, the DAX 50 ESG, DAX 50 ESG+ and DAX 30 ESG indices exhibit higher average Performance Scores across their index components compared to the HDAX. Specifically, the DAX 50 ESG and DAX 50 ESG+ each show an average score that is 9 points higher than the HDAX’s, while the DAX 30 ESG outperforms by 15 points.
Figure 3: Distribution of ISS Sustainability Performance Scores across all index components
Greenhouse gas intensity for DAX ESG indices
Among DAX ESG indices, components of the DAX ESG Target exhibit the lowest overall greenhouse gas intensity as compiled by ISS Sustainability, while constituents of the MDAX ESG+ record the highest. The DAX ESG Target also shows the largest reduction of GHG intensity compared to its parent index, DAX.
Greenhouse gas intensity represents Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions expressed in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per million USD of revenue. The higher the greenhouse gas intensity, the more metric tons of carbon dioxide are emitted to generate one million USD of revenue.
Figure 4: GHG intensity – DAX ESG indices vs. parent index
Source: ISS Sustainability. Data as of September 2026. For each index, the chart shows the sum of all companies’ emissions divided by the sum of their revenues.
Comprehensive suite
The DAX 50 ESG combines negative screening, best-in-class ESG integration, and reflects the performance of the 50 highest ESG-ranked German companies. It was developed as a broad-market ESG benchmark with a larger composition than that of the flagship DAX.
The DAX 50 ESG+ is similar to the DAX 50 ESG but applies different sustainability exclusion filters.
The DAX 30 ESG excludes controversial companies from a starting universe, and from the largest remaining companies selects the 30 securities with the highest ESG Performance Score from ISS Sustainability.
The DAX ESG Target follows an optimized weighting methodology whose objective is to minimize the tracking error while achieving improvements over the benchmark in terms of carbon footprint and ESG Risk Score.
The objective of the DAX ESG Screened index is to reflect the performance of the DAX after removing companies that fail screenings for global norms, controversial weapons, product involvement and a minimum ESG rating.
The MDAX ESG indices follow similar methodologies as the DAX ESG indices while tracking mid-cap companies.
The selection universe for the DAX 50 ESG, DAX 50 ESG+ and DAX 30 ESG is the HDAX, which consists of all companies in DAX, MDAX® and TecDAX. Changes to the composition in the ESG indices might be caused by changes in the starting universe. Likewise, changes in the MDAX universe may result in additions or deletions in the MDAX ESG versions.
Results of the next regular review of the DAX ESG indices will be announced on December 4.
[1] Companies are assessed against their adherence to international norms on human rights, labor standards, environmental protection and anti-corruption regulation established in the UN Global Compact and the OECD Guidelines. Companies that fail to respect established norms and leave the issue unaddressed are identified as ‘red’ by ISS Sustainability and excluded.
[2] Companies must not be involved in controversial weapons activities, as identified by ISS Sustainability. The following weapons are defined as controversial: anti-personnel mines, biological weapons, chemical weapons, cluster munitions, depleted uranium programs, nuclear weapons (including countries outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and white phosphorus.