Sustainability
Approach
At ODDO BHF Asset Management, we are convinced that the investment world must actively contribute to this transformation, which, while being an imperative, creates tremendous opportunities. This is why we are committed to playing an active role in a positive revolution, through the sustainable management of our investments as well as through engaging in a dialogue with companies.
Our ESG approach
We have been committed to sustainable investment
since 2006.
Our active participation in major initiatives such as the Forum for Responsible
Investment (FIR), the Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen (FNG), the Principles for Responsible
Investment (PRI) and the United Nations Global Compact has over the years forged
our footprint as a responsible asset manager.
This strong commitment has been gradually translated into our various investment
capabilities. Extra-financial analysis, taking into account Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG) criteria, has thus been added to a fundamental analysis that
was hitherto purely financial. These two complementary ways of analyzing companies
contribute to informed and responsible decision making. For investors, they offer
the opportunity to participate in sustainable development while identifying material
risks and opportunities for long-term growth.
Our commitment is also reflected in the close relationships we maintain with companies:
regular dialogue with management teams enables us to encourage them to adapt their
business models to new social and environmental challenges.
We are convinced that sustainable investment
can be a driver of long-term performance.
Committed to our independence in terms of analysis, we have developed our own ESG
rating model that perfectly reflects our vision of sustainable investment, particularly
on governance and human capital aspects. In our view, companies with an appropriate
governance structure and a strong focus on human capital are more likely to outperform
over the long term. The ESG rating derived from our internal model, enriched by
various external databases (MSCI, CDP), thus has a direct impact on the construction
of portfolios.
In the majority of our investment capabilities, we have also made a marked and differentiating
choice by opting for a best-in-universe approach, thus favouring the best-rated
companies across the entire investment universe, and not just within each sector.
We believe that this approach, whose objective is to invest in the highest rated
companies in absolute terms, allows us to participate effectively in sustainable
transformation and maximize our impact. It also provides a comprehensive view of
each company’s risks and opportunities.
Sustainable management, which is at the heart
of our investment philosophy, is ensured by our team of seasoned professionals.
Our conviction-based approach aims at generating outperformance through strong investment
choices over a long-term horizon.
This management approach has become the cornerstone of several of our investment
capabilities. Our main investment strategies take into account ESG criteria. Seven of our equity and bond funds have received the label ISR (Socially Responsible Investment)
label1 in France and four have been awarded the FNG (Forum Nachhaltige Geldanlagen)2 label in Germany for the quality of their
responsible management.Our ambition is to extend ESG integration to all of our portfolios and obtain a number of labels meeting ever more demanding specifications.
1 ODDO BHF Avenir Euro, ODDO
BHF Avenir Europe, ODDO BHF Génération, ODDO BHF Green Planet, ODDO BHF Sustainable Euro Corporate Bond, Métropole Sélection, Métropole Euro SRI
2 ODDO BHF Algo Sustainable Leaders, ODDO BHF Green Planet, ODDO BHF German Equities,ODDO
BHF Sustainable Euro Corporate Bond
Situation as of 28/02/2022
The 3 systematic steps of our ESG approach
Norm-based and sector exclusions
In 2021, we updated our Exclusion Policy to emphasize our active engagement on environmental issues by excluding sectors whose economic development model is contrary to our sustainable investing goals. Investing in any of these activities without respecting specific restrictions and controls carries increasing risks such as regulatory, financial, or reputational risks. Thus, we follow a transition approach with evolving thresholds.
Depending on their nature, these exclusions may apply to all open-ended funds or only to funds integrating ESG criteria into their investment process, or may be decided on a case-by-case basis at the management team’s discretion (ethical sector exclusions).
Internal model
By factoring in the “execution risk” regarding a company’s long-term
strategy, the results of our ESG analysis have a direct impact on the construction
of portfolios (valuation of securities, weighting, buying and selling discipline).
In order to reflect the “best-in-universe” applied to most of the funds,
the universe analysed is broken down into five ESG levels: Strong Opportunity
, Opportunity
, Neutral
, Moderate Risk
and High Risk
.
Systematic dialogue with poorly rated companies
Our approach to shareholder engagement focuses on two areas:
- Dialogue and Engagement with companies: we meet companies represented in our portfolios in pursuit of progress on business practices and transparency on Environmental, Social and Governance issues. Besides maintaining regular dialogue, we also promote individual and collaborative engagement with companies when we believe they face significant ESG risks. Our engagement process involves identifying and systematically establishing explicit areas in which we expect progress to be made. Our approach is deemed successful if dialogue with an issuer leads to greater ESG transparency and/or an improvement in ESG practices within 18 to 24 months. If engagement is unsuccessful (with dialogue proving non-existent or unsatisfactory), we may establish an escalation process (initiation of a collaborative engagement, opposing vote at the AGMs, divestment).
- Shareholder engagement policy: ODDO BHF AM considers the exercise of voting rights to be an integral part of its responsibility as a shareholder, consistent with its commitments as a signatory of the PRI regarding Environmental, Social and Governance criteria. Participating in AGMs helps to ensure that entrepreneurs’ strategies, risk management and governance are creating long-term value, which is a source of return for their shareholders. Thus, ODDO BHF AM has prepared a shareholder engagement policy for each of its legally separate management companies.
Our Transition Strategy
A signatory of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) since 2006, supporting and taking part in several global initiatives (Climate Action 100+ in 2018, Investor Agenda in 2019, Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures in 2020), ODDO BHF Asset Management has for several years placed the climate issue at the heart of its thinking.
The 3 steps of our Transition strategy
Exclusions
ODDO BHF AM Exclusion Policy:
- Common base of exclusion
- Specific sector exclusions
- Relevant European labels requirements
- Exclusions specific to green bonds
ESG Integration
- Internal ESG model for corporates covering +1200 companies based on inhouse research and multiple ESG data inputs
- Internal ESG model for Sovereigns covering 65 countries and the European Union
- Proprietary methodology directs portfolio construction in equity and bond selection and the weighting of stock and securities across asset classes
- Internal ESG ratings based on our internal model (rating range from 1 to 5)
Active ownership
- Regular dialogue with companies within the investment universe on ESG topics
- Individual engagement with companies on specific ESG topics
- Collaborative engagement on positive change trajectories related to the climate, ecological and just transition
- ODDO BHF AM Voting Policy including a climate scorecard module
- Escalation process if engagement is unsuccessful after 18 to 24 months (collaborative engagement, opposing vote at the AGM, exclusion of the issuer from the investment universe, or divestment)
ODDO BHF AM affirms its differentiated approach to the Transition strategy by integrating
a qualitative analysis of the contribution of portfolios to the achievement of climate
objectives. To this end, we have developed an Energy Transition Analysis (ETA),
which is used to measure the contribution of each company to a low-carbon economy.
We also support the recommendations of the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial
Disclosures) for the implementation of regulatory climate reporting that places
climate risks and opportunities at the heart of each company’s strategy.
In addition, we have broadened the scope of our Transition to Green Transition strategy
by focusing on the interrelationships of climate and environmental risks.
ETA | Our internal "Ecological transition" score for company analysis
Sector positionning |
| Clean energy (SDG 7, 13) |
| Energy efficiency (SDG 7, 9, 11) |
| Biodiversity (SDG 6, 12, 14, 15) |
| Circular economy (SDG 11, 12) |
| Sustainable empowerment (SDG 9, 11, 13) |
| Score ETA : 30% |
Environmental analysis |
| Environmental management system |
Products and/or services
|
| Score ETA : 70% |
In the near future, we will also implement a number of concrete actions to strengthen the dialogue on social risks and opportunities in the context of the "Just Transition".