The invention relates to a (meth)acrylate polymer for improving the viscosity index, which comprises a) from 5 to 60 wt % of repeating units that are derived from (meth)acrylates of formula (I), where R represents hydrogen or methyl and R1 is an alkyl radical having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, b) from 5 to 80 wt % of repeating units that are derived from (meth)acrylates of formula (II), where R is hydrogen or methyl and R2 is an alkyl radical having from 7 to 30 carbon atoms, and c) from 15 to 90 wt % of repeating units that are derived from (meth)acrylates of formula (III), where R is hydrogen or methyl, n is an integer in the range of 2 to 500 and A is C2-C4 alkylene and R3 is a hydrogen atom or an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms. The invention further relates to novel lubricating oil compositions, to a method for producing the above-mentioned (meth)acrylate polymers and to the use thereof for improving the viscosity index of lubricating oil compositions that comprise at least one polar base oil.