For Immediate Release
May 8, 2026
Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd.
Global ESG Investment Equity Index
Sumitomo Forestry named to the Dow Jones Best-in-Class World Index
Top score in the homebuilding industry for the fifth consecutive year
Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd. (President and Representative Director: Toshiro Mitsuyoshi; headquarters: Tokyo; hereinafter, Sumitomo Forestry) is pleased to announce that it has been named to the Dow Jones Best-in-Class World Index (DJ BIC World), a globally renowned ESG investment equity index. In this index, Sumitomo Forestry secured the top score in the homebuilding industry (among 16 eligible companies) for the fifth consecutive year. In addition, Sumitomo Forestry has also been included in the Dow Jones Best-in-Class Asia Pacific Index (DJ BIC Asia Pacific), an index comprised of Asia Pacific companies. This is the eighteenth time Sumitomo Forestry has been included in the Dow Jones Best-in-Class Indices (DJ BIC)*1 since we were first selected in 2005.
Launched in 1999, the DJ BIC series are sustainability-related equity indices announced yearly by the US company S&P Dow Jones Indices. Companies are evaluated and analyzed on their sustainability practices based on economic, environmental, and social criteria and those that demonstrate superior performance are selected for inclusion.
DJ BIC World comprises global sustainability leaders as identified by S&P Global through the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (317 companies, of which 35 companies are Japanese). We are highly regarded in particular for ESG-related information disclosure transparency, supply chain management, information security, biodiversity, and human rights initiatives.
In addition to the DJ BIC series, Sumitomo Forestry has been selected for ESG indices adopted by Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, one of the world’s largest pension funds. These indices include the FTSE JPX Blossom Japan Index*2, the FTSE JPX Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index*3, the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index (WIN)*4, and others. Sumitomo Forestry has also been selected for a number of other indices, such as FTSE Russell’s FTSE4 Good Index Series*5.
Every year, Sumitomo Forestry publishes the Sumitomo Forestry Group Sustainability Report on its corporate website to provide information on the Group’s sustainability initiatives to investors and a wide variety of other stakeholders. In the 2025 edition of the Sustainability Report, we enhanced and expanded disclosure of initiatives that contribute to Nature Positive. This includes our Nature Positive Statement (announced in February 2025), which demonstrates our commitment to setting and promoting concrete action targets for nature-related issues, an area of increasing focus in recent years.
Sumitomo Forestry Group formulated Mission TREEING 2030, our long-term vision with 2030 as target year, the same target year as the United Nation’s SDGs. In this long-term vision, we defined nine material issues from the perspective of providing value for our planet, for people and society, and for the market economy. This year is the second year of Mission TREEING 2030 Phase 2 (2025~2027),
our medium-term management plan. With the further integration of business operations and ESG as one of our basic policies, we will continue to work to fulfill societal expectations and raise corporate value through our SDGs and other efforts.
Detailed information regarding Sumitomo Forestry Group’s activities to realize a sustainable society can be found in our Sustainability Report: https://sfc.jp/english/sustainability/
External recognition of the Sumitomo Forestry Group: https://sfc.jp/english/sustainability/evaluation/
*1 Renamed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices in February 2025.
*2 An ESG index for Japanese stocks developed by FTSE Russell. Constructed so that industry/sector weights align with the Japanese equity market, this index evaluates the performance of Japanese companies that excel in ESG initiatives. Sumitomo Forestry has been included in this index every year since 2017, when the index was selected by the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) of Japan.
*3 A classification-based, comprehensive ESG index formulated in 2022 that evaluates companies from three perspectives – FT Russell’s ESG evaluation, carbon intensity (volume of greenhouse gas emissions per unit of revenues), and management stance regarding climate change risks and opportunities.
*4 An evaluation index for Japanese stocks developed by the US company MSCI Inc. Using as a parent index the MSCI Japan IMI Top 700 Index, this index evaluates companies that excel in gender diversity initiatives by sector. Sumitomo Forestry has been included in this index every year since 2017, when the index was selected by GPIF.
*5 An evaluation index developed by FTSE Russell that evaluates companies with global ESG standards. Sumitomo Forestry has been included in this index every year since 2004.