BNP Paribas Assurance becomes first investor to adopt socially responsible investing strategy for €45 billion in euro fund assets.
- 13/09/2007
- SRI analysis of BNP Paribas Assurance general fund by Vigeo
- Socially responsible investing commitments
- 1.3 million clients to benefit from BNP Paribas Assurance commitments to SRI
Within the framework of its Corporate Social Responsibility policy, BNP Paribas Assurance has deployed a progress initiative that will see application of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) criteria to its investment decisions.
BNP Paribas Assurance is the first private investor to have its euro fund reviewed by Vigeo, the European leader in extra-financial analysis. This analysis covered the six SRI domains1.
BNP Paribas Assurance directly manages 45 billion euros in assets, giving it significant leverage to exercise its social responsibility and offer the benefits of its SRI policy to nearly 1.3 million clients via the euro fund components underlying their life insurance contracts.
Primary results of Vigeo analysis
Vigeo analyzed three asset classes: sovereign bonds, non-sovereign bonds and European equities. This analysis showed that the sovereign bond portfolio (21.8 billion euros, representing 53.3 percent of the total portfolio) is the segment that is most advanced in terms of meeting SRI criteria. The national governments that issued the securities in which this portfolio is invested generally exhibit good performance with regards to the institutional, social and environmental criteria examined.
For the portion of the portfolio invested in securities issued by private entities (non-sovereign bonds or equities), the analysis shows that the securities selection process has ensured that the SRI commitment is already being implemented.
“BNP Paribas Assurance’s euro fund now reflects a clear SRI commitment for the sovereign bond component and offers a reasonable guarantee that this commitment is being pursued for its nonsovereign bond and European equity portfolios,” notes Bernard Dufour, Director of Vigeo’s Socially Responsible Investment department.
BNP Paribas Assurance deploys proactive progress initiative
BNP Paribas Assurance has begun establishing the foundations that will enable it to progressively apply SRI criteria to its investment decisions, reflected in several concrete commitments:
- For sovereign bonds, SRI criteria will be taken into account in making future investments.
- For sovereign bonds, SRI criteria will be taken into account in making future investments.
- For equities:
- The equity allocation strategy will include a gradual investment in socially responsible funds, and BNP Paribas Assurance will create its own socially responsible investment fund.
- For the portion of the portfolio comprising direct investments, at equivalent performance priority will be given to companies that have the best SRI ratings and SRI criteria will be taken into account for portfolio arbitrage decisions.
While pursuing its constant focus on maximizing fund performance and profitability in compliance with IAS standards, BNP Paribas Assurance is making SRI criteria an integral part of its investment process. The company is designing the internal indicators needed to guide this progress initiative.
Speaking at a press conference today, BNP Paribas Assurance Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Eric Lombardnoted that this policy encompasses all the assets in the company’s euro fund: “This proactive progress initiative aims to apply Socially Responsible Investing criteria to our investment decisions as we pursue our goal of continually improving our financial performance.”
1: The six SRI domains are: Human Resources, Business Behavior, Human Rights, Environment, Corporate Governance and Community Involvement.
