Launched in 2007 to respond to investors' growing interest in combining financial performance with social and environmental concerns, BNP Paribas Wealth Management's SRI and Impact Investing products rely on a strategy that combines open architecture selection, expertise and innovation.
The assets invested by BNP Wealth Management through SRI and Impact Investing have grown by 50% annually since 2010, and currently total €6.5 billion. They cover sectors as varied as energy efficiency, water treatment and social entrepreneurship.
"The international economic and financial context, the performance record of responsible products, as well as the major future challenges addressed during “Responsible Investment Week” ahead of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP 21), are strengthening investor appetite for these products ", says Elisabeth Karako, Head of CSR, Individual Philanthropy and SRI Offerings.
SRIness Rating, a specific highly-innovative rating tool
To support this growing demand, diversify its product range and identify the best products on the market, from "Best-in-class" funds to thematic funds and responsible products (impact investing products, structured products, etc.), BNP Paribas Wealth Management rolled out a rating tool, SRIness Rating, which evaluates SRI funds by taking into account the quality of the extra-financial investment process and the responsible approach of the asset management firm. This evaluation is followed by a financial evaluation of the fund.
Using this method, nearly 200 SRI funds were selected out of nearly 2,000 funds available on the market[1]*.
"We observe a keen interest in SRI products amongst our European clients, especially in Belgium, the Netherlands and France. US investors are finding responsible investments increasingly appealing, and Bank of the West Wealth Management is developing a platform of responsible products to meet this demand", says Eléonore Bedel, who is in charge of SRI and Impact Investing. "Responsible products are an expanding market and a major source of innovation."
BNP Paribas Wealth Management will continue to expand its range of responsible products to include new social and environmental impacts as related financial products arrive on the market.
Foreign investors show a growing interest in innovative responsible products
BNP Paribas Wealth Management was the first private bank to sell the first structured Green Bond, which was launched by the World Bank and BNP Paribas in 2014.
Nearly €100 million were collected at the international level.
In Belgium, BNP Paribas Fortis launched in 2014 an open architecture SRI fund-of-funds with a minimum initial investment requirement of €10,000. It has already gathered nearly €1 billion in inflows.
About BNP Paribas Wealth Management
BNP Paribas Wealth Management is a leading global private bank and #1 Private Bank in the Eurozone. Present in some 30 countries and in every major financial centre, over 6,300 professionals provide a private investor clientele with solutions for optimising and managing their assets. The bank has €331 billion worth of assets under management (as at 30 June 2015).
[1] KPMG, European Responsible Investing Fund Survey, 2015