French investment boutique La Financière Responsable (LFR) and Spanish insurance giant MAPFRE are entering into a strategic partnership to bring together LFR’s innovative proprietary tools and recognized expertise in SRI/ESG management with MAPFRE’S long term commitment to corporate social responsibility.
The move by MAPFRE is a major endorsement of the Integral Value Approach© (IVA) methodology used by LFR to value stocks. Using its L’Empreinte Ecosociale© tool LFR’s eight strong team analyses more than 120 ESG indicators for 160 Eurozone companies using information provided directly by the companies – not secondary research. The approach is based on consistent, reliable primary data, including non-financial, information increasingly being requested by end investors who seek to invest according to ESG principles.
The arrangement, for an undisclosed sum, gives MAPFRE a 25% stake in LFR while providing the boutique with access to MAPFRE’s global network. LFR currently has around €147m AuM.
LFR managed funds will be offered through MAPFRE’s Luxembourg platform or directly to institutional investors. The strategic alliance will also involve the launch of new products for institutional and high net worth investors looking for transparent and accurate ESG metrics.
LFR Chairman Olivier Johanet said,
“We are very pleased to initiate a new stage in LFR’s development with an internationally recognised institution such as MAPFRE and to welcome it as a partner and shareholder. Not only will we able to support MAPFRE in its determination to develop ESG focused funds for markets throughout the world, but it also provides us with the opportunity to extend our funds into new international markets.”
MAPFRE Chief Investment Officer José Luis Jiménez said,
“LFR will reinforce MAPFRE’s expertise and service proposition in Environmental, Social and Governance investing. The new relationship offers MAPFRE Group and our asset management company, MAPFRE AM, a real opportunity to play a part in the CSR debate. “The unique LFR approach, its ESG data integration methodology, its innovative tools and the quality and consistency of its investment process, is a great example of how innovative boutique asset managers can lead the asset management industry in rapidly expanding areas such as ESG driven investment.”
Notes to Editors
MAPFRE Investment business and ESG
MAPFRE is a specialist in long-term savings solutions, with close to 60,000 million euros in managed assets worldwide. It has an investment team of more than 150 professionals who manage assets in 26 countries around the world. Its main areas of expertise are sovereign and corporate fixed income with an investment grade, and global equities with a value approach.
1. MAPFRE Group has been a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) since 2004, while Grupo MAPFRE Brasil has been a member since 2008.
2. MAPFRE Group also adheres to the Principles for Sustainable Insurance evolved by the United Nations’ Environmental Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative. The six Principles are considered a foundation which allows the insurance industry to put sustainability at the heart of risk management. Signatories pledge to embrace fundamental ESG aspirations and turn them into concrete actions. These range from integrating ESG issues into management and operations, to working with clients, suppliers and governments to raise awareness of ESG concerns, as well as developing new risk management products and services.
3. Earlier this year, MAPFRE joined the global network of signatories to the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI). PRI is an initiative in collaboration with the UN Global Compact, which aims to understand the impact of environmental, social and governmental issues on investment and encourages signatories to integrate these issues into their decision-making.
MAPFRE is a global insurer, headquartered in Madrid, with a presence on five continents. It is the leading multinational insurance group in Latin America and one of the 10 largest European insurance firms by premium volume. MAPFRE has approximately 37,000 employees and 37 million customers worldwide. In 2016, its revenues exceeded €27 billion and net profit stood at €775 million.
Website: www.mapfre.com
La Financière Responsable (LFR)
1. La Financière Responsable is a French asset manager cofounded in 2007 by Olivier Johanet (Chairman) and Stéphane Prévost (Chief Executive Officer). Its philosophy relies on long-term and stock-picking management to select European listed companies through a combination of strategic, non-financial and financial analysis (going back to 2006), in accordance with the Integral Value Approach IVA©.
2. LFR manages four funds: LFR Euro Développement Durable (euro equity), LFR Actions Solidaires (solidarity-based euro equity), Monceau Ethique (euro equity) and Diamant Bleu Responsable (euro diversified, sub- managed by Diamant Bleu Gestion). All the funds have received the French SRI certification label. The government backed SRI label for financial products means that LFR’s funds are compliant with a set of criteria aimed at making economic performance compatible with positive social and environmental impacts through the financing of companies and public entities that contribute to sustainable development.
3. Website: www.la-financiere-responsable.fr