As the world continues to change, and as concerned citizens respond by upping their demands and expectations, the need for a responsible approach to finance has become more vital than ever. Having already adopted this approach many years ago, Groupama Asset Management is now determined to advance this cause still further every day. By including Environmental, Social and corporate Governance (ESG) criteria in its analyses and investment decisions, Groupama Asset Management enables its customers to direct their investments with absolute confidence towards companies that are making real contributions to building the world of tomorrow.
This is a conviction-based management approach, combining both performance and responsibility, and it has the ambition of making a practical impact on the major challenges faced by society. The establishment of sustainable finance will help to promote sustainable agriculture, support the reshoring of the production of essential goods, contribute to the progression of gender equality and foster the protection of our environment.
SFDR Sustainability‐related Disclosures in the Financial Services Sector
Additionally, this approach to finance, which takes into account the major transformations of our society, enables us to better identify risks and detect new opportunities for added value.
So, by including ESG criteria in its analysis, Groupama Asset Management is able to discern with precision the transitions that are today impelling deep modifications in corporate business models.
This is a demanding and visionary approach that aims to better evaluate the impact of these transitions on the future performance of the companies concerned.
Anticipating, integrating and analyzing the impact of these transitions means having an “avant-garde” vision and being able to propose high-performing finance that is both inspiring and determined. Once again, this year, Groupama AM is ranked in the top 10 French companies in terms of brand commitment to sustainable finance, coming in 6th place in the Avant-Gardist category. Only 16 % of asset management companies are even included in this category (RIBI Index 2021)
As a pioneer in this sustainable finance approach, with the launch of its first responsible investment fund in 2001,, Groupama Asset Management today pursues a strategy of generalized incorporation of the approach, with 3 key goals:
At Groupama AM, we have observed increasing investor demand for made-to-measure services that meet specific requirements. This can concern certain aspects of the voting or shareholder engagement policy or the transparency of ESG information. We have industrialized several ESG report formats with one overriding condition: the data must provide an instructive spotlight for the customer. That is why we prioritize the quality of information over its exhaustiveness.
Today, our customer support ranges from bringing the prospectus into compliance with regulatory requirements all the way up to risk control and due application of ESG management rules.
Our approach aims to incorporate ESG into every asset class (equity, credit and sovereign bonds). This approach is based on research that culminates in one unified financial and ESG recommendation and in the identification of the highest-risk issuers in terms of ESG, by means of the List of Major ESG Risks. Proprietary tools disseminate our internal research to the relevant deciders, so that ESG criteria can be incorporated in investment processes, in accordance with the specific characteristics of each asset management mandate.
A unified recommendation: Through our combined fundamental financial and ESG analysis, we aim to identify the players that are best positioned or most at risk with regard to the three transitions – digital, demographic and environmental- that are currently causing upheaval in our societies.
With the fusion of the roles of financial analyst and ESG analyst under a single job description in 2016, the process of incorporating ESG factors, begun in 2003,.reached a new milestone.
Proprietary tools: The ESG ratings and research are available to all Groupama AM portfolio managers . For example, our managers have access to proprietary tools that can display the results of analyses per sector and security.
For Groupama AM, shareholder engagement signifies a proactive and constructive initiative by one or more investors to demand that identified companies make real efforts to improve their ESG practices. Our approach is based on both individual and collaborative engagement and on our strong presence on the Paris market.
Individual engagement:
Collaborative engagement: