Responsible Investment Week in France
BNP Paribas Wealth Management announces that €10 billion of assets have been invested in Responsible Investments. Private clients’ desire to generate a positive impact through their investments is picking up. Since 2014, the amount of assets placed in responsible investments has tripled within the Private Banking unit.
After reaching the symbolic €10 billion level several months ahead of schedule, BNP Paribas Wealth Management is now working on enhancing its offering and broadening its product range to include new asset classes, co-constructing this offering with its clients. “In just a few years, we have noticed clients’ increasing interest in investing in companies that are consistently and sustainably improving their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices”, explains Eléonore Bedel, Head of Sustainable and Responsible Investment, “We have been meeting with clients more and more over recent months in order to ascertain the best way to support them in ensuring their assets have a positive impact”.
In April 2017, the BNP Paribas Individual Philanthropy Report, written by The Economist Intelligence Unit, had already revealed the new expectations of millennials, especially those who are heirs to Family Foundations. They consider themselves more as investors, with the belief that supporting entrepreneurship is the most sustainable option, as it has an economic impact, creates jobs, and is a lasting solution to fight poverty. There are already a number of investment solutions that enable these clients to support a new economy that allows to anticipate environmental and social risks and aims to create another value, in addition to the more traditional financial one.
But beyond their SRI benefits, how profitable are these funds for investors? Index comparisons show that Responsible Investments generate comparable performances to traditional indices over the long term with no additional risks, although the universe of equities that meet ESG criteria is more restricted.(*)
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