Germany’s Evangelische Bank is seeking to widen the range of its customers with the launch of a sustainable investing subsidiary.

The bank, which has so far primarily serviced institutions linked to Germany’s protestant churches, has set up EB - Sustainable Investment Management (EB-SIM).

In a statement announcing the launch, the Evangelische Bank cited its 30-year track record of integrating sustainability criteria into its investments.

At its launch on 1 December, EB-SIM had €4bn in assets under management, the vast majority housed in Spezialfonds and retail funds, and spread over 90 mandates.

EB-SIM said it wanted to become “one of the leading sustainable asset managers and wealth managers in the German-speaking area”.

Hans-Jürgen Schäfer

Hans-Jürgen Schäfer, EB-SIM

The new company is headed by Hans-Jürgen Schäfer as chairman of the board, who joined the Evangelische Bank in January this year as head of asset management.

The board consists of Schäfer alongside Helmut Kotschwar, formerly head of portfolio management at the Evangelische Bank, and Ulrich Nötges, who also has an asset management background.

EB-SIM is based in Kassel, in central Germany, and has roughly 20 employees. It is to offer environmental, social and corporate governance themed products as well as impact investing strategies to Pensionskassen, Pensionsfonds, Versorgungswerke and other institutional investors in the German-speaking area.