Amundi reveals three-year responsible investment action plan

The firm currently has €280bn or 19% of its AUM invested in three areas of responsible investment, with plans to increase the application of its ESG policy to 100% of its fund management and voting practices by 2021.

The three areas currently include giving issuers an ESG rating from A to G; dedicated funds with targeted investments to tackle climate change or finance energy transition and a dedicated €200m fund to support social and solidarity economy companies.

From 2021, all actively managed funds will be required to offer ESG performance above the ESG rating of their respective benchmarks, while shareholder engagement and voting at company AGMs will include ESG analysis.

Amundi has also pledged to double its funding to initiatives related to the environment or with a strong social impact by increasing thematic fund expenditure to €20bn.

Furthermore, the firm's investment in the social and solidarity economy - companies that produce goods and services that meet the needs of the community - will reach €500m by the end of 2021, up from €200m.

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Yves Perrier, CEO of Amundi, commented: "Since its creation, Amundi has chosen to make responsible investment one of the company's founding pillars.

"This was based on two convictions: the responsibility companies and investors have to society, and that this is a guarantee of long term financial performance.

"This three-year plan extends our commitment to responsible investment and anticipates the expectations of our clients."

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Stanislas Pottier, chief responsible investment officer at Amundi, said: "Amundi has built a solid and recognised ESG analysis process and launched innovative initiatives to promote investments with powerful environmental and social impact.

"We now aim to make ESG criteria mainstream in investment processes and voting policies."

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