Sustainable ETFs in the Altersvorsorgedepot

Tilman Freyenhagen

Published on 15 June 2026 · Updated on 15 July 2026 · Managing Director & Partner, Alsterspree Verlag GmbH

Sustainable ETFs in the Altersvorsorgedepot: a new standard for your retirement saving

Yes, from 2027 you can use sustainable ETFs specifically in the new Altersvorsorgedepot, provided your provider carries them in its product range. For your long-term private pension saving, though, it is essential that you understand the specific sustainability approach in detail and weigh it against diversification and cost, as our knowledge section describes at length. Stricter filters generally mean less spread among the companies included, which increases concentration risk compared with classic world indices.

The common sustainability approaches at a glance

Sustainable index funds generally fall into three main approaches: ESG screening, SRI filtering and Paris-aligned strategies^[1]. ESG screening applies only basic exclusion criteria and so keeps the highest diversification, while SRI criteria (Socially Responsible Investing) apply stricter selection and often exclude entire sectors, such as weapons, tobacco or fossil fuels, consistently. Paris-aligned benchmarks (PAB) are geared specifically to the climate targets of the Paris Agreement and drastically cut the CO2 intensity of the portfolio. Consumer advocates point out that stronger filtering does increase sustainability, but at the same time sharply reduces the number of stocks in the portfolio, which can distort market weightings^[1].

If you are managing this yourself, check carefully before choosing a provider whether the account-holding institution offers sustainable ETFs and whether extra account fees apply. For a mathematical comparison of subsidies and cost effects, our subsidy calculator Altersvorsorgedepot is available to you. The final choice of a sustainable ETF always requires a look at the fund's largest individual holdings, to minimise the risk of unwanted sector concentration in your pension account.

The three pillars of sustainability: ESG-screened, SRI and Paris-aligned compared

Anyone who wants to make their private pension saving sustainable faces a wealth of terminology. Three approaches matter most for the future Altersvorsorgedepot, and they differ substantially in filter depth and in their effect on your portfolio. Each additional filter level raises the environmental or ethical bar, but at the same time reduces the number of companies included and can affect fees. For you as a do-it-yourself investor, this trade-off between sustainability, diversification and product cost is crucial for building a stable long-term foundation^[2].

A closer look reveals the fine differences for your long-term wealth building. While a simple ESG-screened filter excludes only the most extreme sectors, EU Paris-aligned benchmarks (PAB) require an immediate 50 percent cut in greenhouse gas intensity, plus annual decarbonisation of 7 percent^[3]. The strictest selection is offered by the SRI standard (Socially Responsible Investing). It systematically excludes the majority of companies, keeping only the sector leaders under strict sustainability criteria^[2]. This produces a concentrated portfolio that departs from pure market capitalisation.

For your Altersvorsorgedepot, this means a deliberate trade-off. Anyone seeking maximum diversification tends to choose ESG-screened or climate-oriented indices. Anyone applying strict ethical standards accepts the higher concentration risk of SRI ETFs. To analyse these complex interactions for your personal savings strategy transparently, you will find neutral analysis and further guides in our knowledge section. Use this fact-based guidance to find the right balance between your values and your long-term return expectations for your neobroker savings plan.

Diversification under stress: how many companies remain after filtering?

Integrating sustainability criteria into your long-term pension saving has a direct, measurable effect on your portfolio's risk diversification. The stricter the exclusion filters applied, the smaller the remaining global investment universe for your Altersvorsorgedepot becomes. While the classic, unfiltered MSCI World Index currently covers around 1,320 companies, this figure falls only slightly under the moderate ESG-screened approach.^[4] Choose the strict SRI approach for your investment strategy, on the other hand, and only around 375 companies remain in the index in the end.^[5] This drastic drop in the number of holdings limits broad diversification and can increase the overall investment's volatility.

For do-it-yourself investors who want to structure their subsidised Altersvorsorgedepot themselves, this filtering effect is a central trade-off to weigh up. Simply excluding controversial sectors such as coal, weapons or tobacco, as in classic ESG screening, causes only a slight deviation from general market performance. Under a strict SRI approach (Socially Responsible Investing), by contrast, applying the so-called best-in-class principle often leaves only the top 25 percent of companies in a sector by sustainability rating^[6]. This inevitably leads to a marked overweighting of individual sectors such as technology, and so departs noticeably from the classic market portfolio.

When choosing the right ETFs for your sustainable investment strategy, you should always weigh your personal values against the mathematical degree of diversification and cost. For a detailed analysis of subsidised account options and their tax effects, our subsidy calculator Altersvorsorgedepot is available to you. You can also find additional, neutral guide articles on providers, tariffs and the right ETF selection at any time in our knowledge section. Please note that all the figures, returns and comparisons shown here serve purely for general illustration: not investment advice within the meaning of § 1 Abs. 1a Nr. 1a KWG.

The cost question: how much does the TER affect your long-term return?

The total expense ratio (TER) significantly affects your long-term return in the Altersvorsorgedepot, because even small decimal differences add up to substantial sums over several decades through the compound-interest effect. While classic, broadly diversified world ETFs often shine with a very low TER of around 0.12 percent p.a., sustainable variants such as SRI or Paris-aligned ETFs often carry somewhat higher fees of about 0.20 percent p.a.^[7]. For do-it-yourself investors, this means a necessary trade-off between your personal values and the mathematical cost impact on your subsidised pension assets.

To calculate the precise effect of this cost difference on your personal final capital, the subsidy calculator Altersvorsorgedepot on our neutral knowledge section is available to you. A difference of 0.08 percentage points in the TER sounds negligible at first glance. On a monthly savings contribution of 200 euros over a period of 40 years, and an assumed annual return of 6 percent before costs, a TER raised from 0.12 percent to 0.20 percent reduces the final capital, by calculation, by around 8,200 euros (illustrative model calculation, not investment advice within the meaning of § 1 Abs. 1a Nr. 1a KWG). Do-it-yourself investors should therefore check carefully whether the stricter filter is worth the corresponding return discount to them.

Beyond the pure cost ratio, as a do-it-yourself investor you should also keep diversification in view. Strict SRI and climate filters often cut the number of companies included in the index by more than half. This leads to higher sector concentration and potentially larger swings in your Altersvorsorgedepot. The decision for a sustainable ETF in a subsidised account should therefore always be a source-based, deliberate trade-off between ethical criteria, adequate risk spread and minimal fees.

Performance comparison: does green investing hurt your pension?

The worry that a sustainable orientation in private pension saving leads to a noticeably lower pension is historically unfounded. Long-term comparisons show that sustainable indices such as the MSCI World SRI have, over long stretches, achieved a very similar return to their conventional base indices, and in some periods even a slightly better one^[8]. The reason for this lies not in a systematic outperformance from following sustainability criteria, but in a changed portfolio structure. Because strict filters exclude many traditional industries, research- and growth-heavy sectors often remain in the index, which significantly influences returns.

The role of sector weighting and the tech sector

Filtering out companies in fossil fuels, weapons or tobacco inevitably shifts the weightings within sustainable indices. This usually leads to a higher weighting of the technology and healthcare sectors compared with the classic world index. In market phases where tech stocks perform strongly, ESG or SRI ETFs can outperform the conventional market; when that sector weakens, temporary underperformance can result. This deviation from the broad market is known as tracking error and should be factored into long-term planning for the new Altersvorsorgedepot. If you want to take this dynamic into account when choosing your investment, our knowledge section offers well-founded analysis of portfolio composition.

• Sector drift: excluding CO2-intensive sectors automatically increases the share of capital-light sectors such as technology and software.
• Concentration risk: stricter filters reduce the number of companies included, which can slightly increase unsystematic risk in your account.
• Cost structure: modern sustainable ETFs today carry almost no fee disadvantage anymore, so the total expense ratio (TER) rarely weighs heavily long term.
• Not investment advice within the meaning of § 1 Abs. 1a Nr. 1a KWG: past performance allows no reliable conclusions about future returns.

Risk factor greenwashing: how transparent is sustainability screening?

Anyone who wants their Altersvorsorgedepot to be sustainable is often surprised to find that even ostensibly green portfolios include major corporations from controversial sectors. This is usually down to the ESG screening applied. In entry-level variants, such as the MSCI ESG-screened indices, only companies committing serious violations of international norms, or operating in highly stigmatised sectors such as controversial weapons, are typically excluded^[9]. A complete exclusion of fossil fuel producers usually does not happen here, as long as certain revenue thresholds are not exceeded. In our knowledge section, we set out these connections neutrally.

The MSCI ESG controversy score and revenue thresholds

A key control instrument is the MSCI ESG controversy score, which rates companies on a scale from 0 to 10^[10]. Only at a red flag, meaning a score of 0, do many standard ESG funds trigger an automatic exclusion^[9]. Companies with moderate violations therefore remain in the portfolio. Conventional ESG criteria also often permit revenue exposure of up to 5% or 10% from fossil fuels. Investors wanting a stricter selection should therefore look at SRI variants (Socially Responsible Investing) or Paris-aligned ETFs, which apply significantly more rigid filters.

As a do-it-yourself investor, you should be aware that a higher filter strength always conflicts directly with broad risk diversification. The more restrictive the selection process, the fewer companies remain in the index, which can increase concentration risk in your Altersvorsorgedepot. To calculate the long-term effects of costs and different subsidy conditions on your Altersvorsorgedepot, our source-based subsidy calculator Altersvorsorgedepot is available to you. Not investment advice within the meaning of § 1 Abs. 1a Nr. 1a KWG.

ETF selection and provider comparison for your subsidised account

Anyone who wants to make their state-subsidised pension saving sustainable faces a central trade-off: how much filtering makes sense without jeopardising the portfolio's diversification too much? When choosing ETFs for the new Altersvorsorgedepot from 2027, what matters is reconciling your personal values with the hard economic factors of cost and risk spread. A deeper understanding of the various ESG and SRI filters also protects you against unintentional greenwashing, since index providers adjust their criteria and index names from time to time^[11].

These differences show that stricter filtering, as with the MSCI World SRI, often leads to a smaller number of individual holdings. This can slightly increase the account's volatility compared with the broad world index, even though the historical return pattern is often similar^[11]. To find the optimal middle path for you, a structured comparison is worthwhile. Use our provider comparison to check tariffs, and the subsidy calculator Altersvorsorgedepot to calculate your optimal savings path and the effect of fees on your pension. Note: all comparisons and scenarios serve for illustration; not investment advice within the meaning of § 1 Abs. 1a Nr. 1a KWG.

Conclusion: the balanced path to sustainable pension saving

Structuring your own pension saving requires a careful trade-off between personal values and economic rationality. For do-it-yourself investors who want to manage their future Altersvorsorgedepot themselves, the question is no longer whether to integrate sustainability, but to what extent. A broadly diversified world ETF forms the foundation of long-term wealth building, while sustainable variants such as ESG-screened or SRI ETFs add targeted emphasis for a deliberate direction of capital^[11].

Criteria for your sustainable ETF selection

The choice of the specific filter system directly determines the composition and risk profile of your portfolio. While simple ESG criteria exclude only serious violations and keep a very broad market portfolio intact, stricter SRI filters or climate-oriented indices such as Paris-aligned drastically reduce the number of companies included. This can, in turn, lead to a slightly higher cost ratio (TER) and higher volatility. For long-term pension saving in the new Altersvorsorgedepot, the rule is: a balanced compromise protects both your return potential and your environmental conscience.

• ESG-screened for maximum diversification: minimal exclusions secure broad market coverage and keep costs at the level of classic world indices.
• SRI filters for deeper selection: a best-in-class approach filters out sector leaders, but results in fewer holdings in your account.
• Climate-oriented approaches for consistent change: Paris-aligned indices align the portfolio strictly with international climate targets, but carry specific sector-concentration risks.

To combine the tax advantages of the new subsidised model from 2027 optimally with a sustainable investment strategy, it is worth taking a precise look at the cost burden and the available fund variants. Best of all, use our neutral subsidy calculator Altersvorsorgedepot to work through the projected effects of different cost ratios on your final capital mathematically (illustrative model, not investment advice within the meaning of § 1 Abs. 1a Nr. 1a KWG). Alternatively, our knowledge section offers more in-depth guides to apply your criteria in a targeted way when comparing providers.