Socially responsible funds can take different approaches
- Best in class ESG selection funds: These finance companies with sustainable development best practices according to ESG criteria;
- Best in class ESG selection funds: These finance companies with sustainable development best practices according to ESG criteria;
- Exclusion funds or "ethical investments": These exclude for ethical or moral reasons certain sectors such as armaments, gambling, tobacco, etc., or companies whose activity is deemed hazardous to the environment (coal, GMOs, nuclear, etc.);
- Thematic funds:These invest in companies or sectors linked to sustainable development such as renewable energies, water, the fight against climate change or are committed to social themes: health, access to education, job creation, professional integration, etc.
- Solidarity funds: A solidarity fund invests up to 10% of its assets in socially responsible companies and associations; It also contains the word ‘solidarity’ in its name, while the other 90% is invested in traditional listed companies with good CSR practices.
By taking all of this into consideration, asset management companies that have a real impact on savings, like BNP Paribas Asset Management and BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management, can design SRI solidarity funds and sustainable thematic funds that are more easily identifiable by clients. This is also the case for insurers like BNP Paribas Cardif, which offers sustainable units of account (certified) and integrates ESG criteria into the management of its general funds.