French investment boutique La Financière Responsable (LFR) and Spanish insurance giant MAPFRE celebrated their recent decision to enter into a strategic partnership last night at the Spanish embassy in Paris France.
The event, was attended by Mapfre Group CEO Fernando Mata, CIO Jose Luis Jimenez, LFR Chairman Olivier Johanet and LFR CEO Stephane Prevost.
MAPFRE Group is a member of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). It joined forces with LFR in November of 2017 in order to reinforce its commitment to advancing and improving ESG criteria and standards in its own investment processes.
Paris-based LFR, founded in 2007, has built a unique and acclaimed analytical process which it calls the Integral Value Approach® (IVA). It uses this unique methodology alongside a tool called L’Empreinte Ecosociale®, capable of analysing more than 120 ESG indicators for 160 Eurozone companies to take into account material ESG factors when selecting stocks for investment portfolios.
ESG factors, and a robust analytical process, have become increasingly important to investors keen to manage and reduce associated portfolio risk.
LFR chairman Olivier Johanet said “Working closely with MAPFRE has allowed us to grow our ESG based investment strategies and distribute them to a huge network of retail and institutional investors. The event in Paris was a celebration of bringing together two firms which are focused on improving their Environmental, Social, and Governance standards.”
MAPFRE Chief Investment Officer José Luis Jiménez said “LFR’s unique investment approach and the quality of its investment managers has enabled us to reposition our overall strategy in a market where the standard of ESG is steadily improving. I look forward to continuing to develop our partnership.”
Mapfre and LFR
La Financiere Responsable (LFR) is a Paris-based boutique asset manager focused on stock selection for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing. It is part owned by Mapfre Group, the major Spanish insurer, which took a 25% strategic stake in 2017 for an undisclosed sum. LFR has developed its own integrated ESG research and analysis model and will help build Mapfre’s expertise in line with the Group’s longstanding commitment to Responsible Investment.
Mapfre Group
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. It is a signatory to the UN Global Compact, the UN Principles for Responsible Investment and the UNEP Principles for Sustainable Insurance.
La Financiere Responsable
La Financiere Responsable, with some €185 million (March 2018) in assets under management, is a French investment boutique founded in 2007 by asset managers Olivier Johanet and Stephane Prevost. Johanet was previously a director at Groupe Credit Agricole and then President at La Française des Placements Investissements. The firm has four actively-managed investment funds and an established track record for both the managers and the funds. LFR focuses on listed European companies using its Integrated Value Approach which includes 160 ESG factors considered before traditional financial analysis takes place. www.la-financiere-responsable.fr
Pictured from left to right is Alfonso Tena, the Chief Minister of the Spanish Embassy, Fernando Mata, Mapfre Group’s CFO, Maria Paz Ramos Resa, Business attaché of the Spanish Embassy and Olivier Johanet, LFR’s Chairman.