L'investissement Socialement Responsable (ISR) : performance et enjeux éthiques

Socially responsible investing, or SRI, is playing an increasingly important role and becoming a real concern for investors. BNP Paribas Cardif has understood this well, implementing a strategy for the past ten years that combines performance objectives with ethical considerations. Olivier Héreil, Deputy CEO of BNP Paribas Cardif in charge of asset management, explains the strategic focus of this investment and BNP Paribas Cardif's commitments. Socially responsible investing is an investment approach that seeks to integrate, alongside the traditional financial criteria of financial analysis, extra-financial criteria, known as ESG criteria: E for environment, S for social, G for governance. When applied to an investment in a company, it is essential to examine how the company impacts its overall environment, its social practices, particularly with regard to its employees, and how it communicates, exchanges information, and treats its shareholders. It is the comprehensive analysis of these parameters that complements the analysis of financial criteria and informs the decision-making process. This approach is a genuine strategic direction for BNP Paribas Cardif, and it is indeed a fundamental trend driving the company, as currently 63% of savers say they incorporate responsible financing criteria into their investment choices. Beyond ESG criteria, there is a second, equally important aspect: climate. BNP Paribas Cardif has introduced this into its investment selection process through a carbon filter. The idea is to select companies whose objective is to reduce their carbon emissions. As an example illustrating this socially responsible investment approach, consider the offshore wind farm project off the Belgian coast, which will provide energy to more than 160,000 homes. Another example: in 2017, BNP Paribas Cardif chose to finance a social housing project. The objective was indeed to enable the creation of emergency housing for populations in dire need. These two examples demonstrate that BNP Paribas Cardif manages to combine financial performance with a positive social impact. BNP Paribas Cardif also manages various funds, such as BNP Aqua and Sycomore Happy@Work, a social fund where the manager selects companies where employees are happy to work. For a first investment, it is best to adopt an approach with sufficiently broad and cross-cutting thematic funds, focusing on environmental themes. What is important to consider regarding SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) is what it offers compared to non-SRI, traditional, or conventional investments. SRI provides a genuine reduction in risk, and that is its value, provided that the investment is held for the long term. BNP Paribas Cardif's first commitment is to double its green investments by 2020. Green investments encompass all environmental themes. The second commitment is to reduce the energy consumption of buildings directly owned by BNP Paribas Cardif by 30% by 2020. It is quite clear that real estate, buildings, and housing represent an extremely important source of energy efficiency improvements, and BNP Paribas Cardif is clearly a leader in this area. In conclusion, the SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) approach will completely transform the investment landscape in the coming years, because SRI is good for the planet, good for society, and also good for investments.