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 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.
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.
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).
Learn more about the sector and norm-based exclusions applied across ODDO BHF Asset Management’s range of fund integrating ESG criteria in their investment process.
| Coal1 | Unconventional
oil & gas1 | Arctic
exploration1 | Tobacco1 | Unconventional
weapons1 | UNGC1 | Biodiversity1 | Conventional
oil & gas2 | Nuclear power2 | Gambling2 | Conventional
weapons2 | GMOs2 | Alcohol2 | Adult
entertainment2 | |
| Equities | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODDO BHF Avenir | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | N | N | Y | N |
| ODDO BHF Avenir Euro | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | N | N | Y | N |
| ODDO BHF Avenir Europe | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | N | N | Y | N |
| ODDO BHF China Domestic Leaders | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| ODDO BHF Génération | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N |
| ODDO BHF Algo Sustainable Leaders | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| ODDO BHF Green Planet | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| ODDO BHF Immobilier | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | N | Y | N | N | N |
| ODDO BHF Active Small Cap | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | Y | N | N | N |
| ODDO BHF Artificial Intelligence | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | N | Y |
| METROPOLE Sélection | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| METROPOLE Euro SRI | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| ODDO BHF Métropole Small Cap Value | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| Fixed income | ||||||||||||||
| ODDO BHF Sustainable Euro Corporate Bond | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y |
| ODDO BHF Green Bond | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | Y | N | N | N |
| ODDO BHF Sustainable Credit Opportunities | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y |
| ODDO BHF Euro Credit Short Duration | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | Y | N | N | Y |
| ODDO BHF Euro High Yield Bond | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N | N | Y |
| Multi-Asset | ||||||||||||||
| ODDO BHF Exklusiv: Polaris Balanced | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | Y | Y | N | N | Y |
| ODDO BHF Exklusiv: Polaris Dynamic | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | Y | Y | N | N | Y |
| ODDO BHF Polaris Flexible | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | N | N | Y |
| ODDO BHF Polaris Moderate | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | Y | Y | N | N | Y |
| Other open-ended funds | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
This table reflects ODDO BHF AM’s Exclusion Policy. Some exclusions very specific to certain sectors might be added to some open-ended funds: regulated utilities and telecommunications for ODDO BHF Avenir,
ODDO BHF Avenir Euro, ODDO BHF Avenir Europe / banks that have not committed to a policy that meets international standards for a fossil fuel phase-out for ODDO BHF Avenir, ODDO BHF Avenir Euro, ODDO BHF Avenir
Europe, ODDO BHF Génération, ODDO BHF Sustainable European Convertibles.
Situation as of February 2022
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 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. 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 (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 a
Transition Analysis, 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.