NortonLifeLock Named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI)

By Kim Allman, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Government Affairs

In its first year as a standalone company, NortonLifeLock is proud to be named to one of the world’s leading environmental, social, and governance (ESG) benchmarks, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). Listed on both the World and North America indices, the placement highlights our company’s commitment to deriving long-term value through responsible business practices.

NortonLifeLock earned a sustainability score of 55^[1] placing it in the 95th percentile for the software industry. The listing follows Symantec’s sustainability leadership; the company was listed on the World Index for 12 consecutive years, 13 on the North America Index^[2].

The DJSI represents the top 10% of the largest 2,500 companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index based on long-term economic, environmental, and social criteria gathered from SAM’s, now a part of S&P Global, Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA)^[3]. The CSA is an annual evaluation of companies’ sustainability practices from around the world. The assessment compares companies across 61 industries and focuses on criteria that are both industry specific and financially material. Each year the CSA is enhanced to identify and measure under-researched or under-reported financially material ESG factors.

Across the DJSI’s three key dimensions, the company scored in the 95th percentile for social criteria (e.g. talent and retention, human rights, labor practices), the 94th percentile for governance and economic criteria (e.g. risk and crisis management, materiality, public policy) and 91st percentile for environmental criteria (e.g. environmental efficiency, reporting and management). Additional highlights of our performance in ESG areas include^[4]:

• Corporate citizenship and philanthropy: Our team members provided 18,726 hours of volunteer service to the communities in which they live and work. Additionally, NortonLifeLock product donations, with a retail value of nearly $11 million, helped 14,678 nonprofits and public libraries keep their devices and data secure.
• Operational eco-efficiency: 24% of the energy we used in FY20 was from renewable sources. Additionally, 32% of all NortonLifeLock products are currently made with and packaged in Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper.
• Human rights: In FY20 100% of our Tier 1 physical product suppliers agreed to our corporate responsibility requirements. Additionally, our two main suppliers, who manufacture and distribute over 95% of physical product globally, completed the Responsible Business Alliance Self-Assessment Questionnaire and shared their results, completed forced labor training, and are considered “low risk” on the Dun and Bradstreet Human Trafficking Index.

Furthermore, through a year of transition, we reevaluated our Corporate Responsibility commitments to reflect the unique impact we believe we can make as we protect consumers’ digital lives. Our updated corporate responsibility objectives, included in our recently released 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report, align with our new, more focused business, current business priorities and company values.

The DSJI’s growth, as part of a wider trend in socially responsible investing, shows how corporate responsibility and sustainability practices have become integrated into the mainstream and are driving investment decisions. As an aggregate there has been a 60% increase in sustainability indices with over 37,000 currently worldwide. Each year, SAM evaluates more than 7,300 companies around the world, while the plan for 2020 is to evaluate more than 10,000. 2020 saw a record 19% increase in the number of companies actively completing the CSA (1,386) and the DJSI itself is considered to be one of the leading benchmarks for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. Additionally, there are approximately $4.5 billion USD in assets in funds or other passive products tied to the DJSI.^[5]

Stay tuned here on our blog for announcements on other rankings and indices, and visit our recently released 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report to learn more about NortonLifeLock’s efforts to becomecommitment to be the trusted brand in Cyber Safety and foster a safer and more sustainable future for consumers, their digital information, and the world.

^{[1] This is the first year DJSI has provided sustainability scores for each company.}

^{[2] In November 2019, Symantec Corporation and its related Consumer Division transitioned to NortonLifeLock Inc.–a standalone company dedicated to consumer Cyber Safety. The Symantec Enterprise Security Products became a division of Broadcom. For more information visit our website.}

^{[3] The SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), established by RobecoSAM in 1999, is now issued by S&P Global.}

^{[4] NortonLifeLock's 2020 DJSI submission included Symantec data and performance highlights where applicable given the DJSI timeframe. The performance highlights included in this article represent NortonLifeLock as a standalone consumer company.}

^{[5] The Benchmark that Changed the World - Celebrating 20 Years of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices}