STOXX has announced the results of the March regular review of the composition of the DAX® 50 ESG, DAX® 50 ESG+, DAX® 30 ESG, DAX® ESG Target, DAX® ESG Screened, MDAX® ESG+ and MDAX® ESG Screened indices, as well as of the benchmark DAX®. The actions listed in this article will be effective as of March 24 this year.
The March review also incorporates index methodology changes driven by the recent ESMA guidelines on funds bearing ESG- and sustainability-related terms in their name (Table 1). STOXX conducted two broad market consultations on STOXX and DAX indices (available here and here) and a specific one on the DAX ESG Target, upon which to base those changes. An earlier round of changes was already introduced in the December 2024 quarterly review.
DAX ESG indices extended their fossil fuel screens to align with the Paris-aligned Benchmark (PAB) exclusions required in the ESMA rules. Additionally, the methodology of the DAX ESG Target index was enhanced to further bolster its ESG profile while minimizing the tracking error to the DAX index. All details on the changes to the individual indices can be found in the consultation results documents linked above.
March also brought the switch in ESG data provider from Sustainalytics to ISS ESG, with the exception of the DAX ESG Target.
Table 1: ESMA fund naming guidelines
March 2025 review
Announced constituent changes as part of the March 2025 review are listed below:
DAX 50 ESG
| Additions: | Deletions: |
| Bechtle | Heidelberg Materials |
| E.ON | Fuchs (Pref.) |
| Porsche Automobil Holding (Pref.) | K+S |
| Qiagen | Wacker Chemie |
DAX 50 ESG+
| Additions: | Deletions: |
| Scout24 | Heidelberg Materials |
| TUI | Krones |
DAX 30 ESG
| Addition: | Deletion: |
| Hugo Boss | Carl Zeiss Meditec |
DAX ESG Target
| Additions: | Deletions: |
| CTS Eventim | Puma |
| Nemetschek | Knorr Bremse |
| Lufthansa | LEG Immobilien |
| E.ON |
DAX ESG Screened
| Addition: | Deletions: |
| Fresenius Medical Care |
MDAX ESG+
| Additions: | Deletion: |
| DWS Group | Siltronic |
| flatexDEGIRO |
MDAX ESG Screened
| Additions: | Deletions: |
| DWS Group | Hypoport |
| flatexDEGIRO | Siltronic |
DAX
No changes
Different strategies
The DAX 50 ESG combines negative screening and best-in-class ESG integration, and was developed as a broad-market ESG benchmark with a larger composition than that of the flagship DAX.
The DAX 50 ESG+ reflects the performance of the 50 highest ESG-ranked German companies after using 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 ESG.
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.
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.
The next regular review of the DAX ESG indices will take place on June 5, 2025.