Methodology Change | Solactive Climate and Energy Transition Index

Today, on the 19th June 2019, Solactive announces the following changes to the methodology of the following index (the ‘Affected Index’) :

Rationale for methodology change

The rationale behind the methodology change is to clarify the treatment of companies with multiple entities and/or multiple share classes in above Index. The followings changes will be made to the Index Guideline and an extraordinary index adjustment is implemented.

Changes to the Index Guideline

1. Amendment of section 2.1.5 in order to introduce additional criteria to identify and exclude certain shares of dual listed companies and companies with multiple share classes:

From:

“Final Index Constituents are then selected based on the following criteria:

• On the Index Start Date the top 40 shares based on highest gross dividend yield are selected, subject to a country cap of 10 shares per country and a sector cap of 8 shares per sector.

• On any subsequent Selection Date all shares that are currently part if the Index are selected if they have not been excluded in any selection stage before. If this results in a number of constituents that is less than 40, additional securities will be selected based on highest gross dividend yield, subject to a country cap of 10 shares per country and a sector cap of 8 shares per sector.”

To:

“Final Index Constituents are then selected based on the following criteria:

• On the Index Start Date the top 40 shares based on highest gross dividend yield are selected, subject to a country cap of 10 shares per country and a sector cap of 8 shares per sector;

• On any subsequent Selection Date

o   all shares that are currently part of the Index are selected if they have not been excluded in any selection stage before. If this results in a number of constituents that is less than 40, additional securities will be selected based on highest gross dividend yield, subject to a country cap of 10 shares per country and a sector cap of 8 shares per sector;

o   In case of a Dual Listed Company, only one entity is eligible for the inclusion as Index Component.

▪ If one of the two potential entities is currently an Index Component the existing Index Component will be kept in the Index.

▪ If none of the two potential entities is currently an Index Component the lowest ranked entity out of the two will be replaced with the next higher ranked successor, according to the rules defined in Section 2.1.5.

o   In case of a company with Multiple Share Classes, only one share class is eligible for the inclusion as Index Component.

▪ If one of the Multiple Share Classes is currently represented by an Index Component the respective share class will be kept in the Index.

▪ If none of the Multiple Share Classes is currently represented by an Index Component the lowest ranked share class will be replaced with the next higher ranked successor, according to the rules defined in Section 2.1.5.”

2. The following definitions are added under section 4

“Dual Listed Company” refers to a corporate structure in which two corporations function as a single operating business through a legal equalization agreement, but retain separate legal identities and stock exchange listings.

“Multiple Share Classes” refers to more than one class of common stock, usually identify a given class with alphabetic markers, such as “Class A” shares and “Class B” shares. Different share classes carry different rights and privileges within the same entity.

Extraordinary Index Adjustment

3. In order to reflect the change under point 1 and adjust the index composition accordingly one of the two entities of the dual listed company Rio Tinto (RIO.L (London Listing) and RIO.AX (Australian Listing) is removed from the Index. In accordance with the amendment RIO.L (London Listing) is removed from the Index because RIO.AX (Australian Listing) was part of the Index before the ordinary rebalancing in March 2019. RIO.L (London Listing) is replaced by BMWG.DE as this is the successor in line with the selection rules specified in the index guideline. The weight review and corresponding weight adjustment due on the first business day in July will be carried out based on the adjusted index composition.

Effective Dates

The changes under points number 1 and 2 are applied for the Weight Review Day in June 2019 and the Weight Adjustment Day in July 2019 respectively. The adjustment described under point number 3 becomes effective on 1st July 2019.

Defined terms used in this announcement, but not defined herein, have the meaning assigned to them in the respective index guideline of the Affected Indices.