e-fundresearch.com: Many funds use terms like „sustainability“, „ESG“ or „SRI“ for their marketing. The majority of fund companies offers products in this range – what track record can BNPP IP offer in the field of sustainable investments? How can you ensure that the strategy is more than just a clever trick for better marketing?
Anita Frühwald: Our SRI products are designed to meet the needs of clients seeking to combine financial performance with environmental and social value-added. We have more than 12 years of expertise in managing SRI funds with the launch of our first European SRI Equity fund in 2002 and the set up of our dedicated SRI analyst team.
We now offer a complete range of investment solutions (mandates, dedicated funds and open-ended UCITS) and asset classes specifically tailored to our investors' objectives.
e-fundresearch.com: What strategies are concretely followed in the investment process of your SRI-range?
Anita Frühwald: Our SRI funds implement two approaches:
- Best-in-class funds giving priority to committed issuers from all involved sectors of every industry conducting their activities to the highest corporate social responsibility standards while adhering to corporate governance principles.
- “Thematic” funds targeting sectors or issuers with high social and/or environmental value-added. Such sectors are at the heart of sustainable development and have attractive growth prospects.
For clients who want to invest in high social impact activities, we offer socially responsible investment funds that dedicate between 5% and 10% of their assets to companies active in the fields of inclusion, combating marginalisation, social housing, intergenerational housing and microfinance.