Encouraging new practices

Our ongoing investment in ESG research, our team of experienced analysts, and our experience make us the preferred partner to help our clients implement their ESG commitments.

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Wim Van Hyfte
Global Head of ESG Investments and Research
Our job now is to help our clients with voting, commitment, data and reporting, with all the ESG issues that they face, where we have real expertise and where we can help them.

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Creating more opportunities

Our independent ESG research works in synergy with the management teams, adding value and innovation. It ensures access to more opportunities for our clients, as well as a better understanding of long-term risks.

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Innovation 

We continue to develop our expertise and enrich our processes and our savoir-faire in order to offer our clients investment solutions that have a real, inclusive and long-lasting impact, for the benefit of all.

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Sharing

Candriam donates part of its revenues to finance societal projects in the field of education, health, environment and social inclusion. We share our ESG expertise through the Candriam Academy, the world's first free online training platform on sustainable investment.

A unique approach to responsible investment

Unique because it is built on our proprietary research, which has been developed and enriched over more than 20 years, and on the recognised expertise of our team of ESG analysts, one of the largest such teams in Europe, which informs all of our investments.

Unique because our starting premise is that every company contributes to sustainability in two ways: through its activities, and through the way it is managed. This dual dimension is present in all our sustainability funds through our analysis and the ESG rating we produce for all the companies in which we invest.

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Exclusions

We have chosen to exclude industries such as tobacco, thermal coal, and controversial weapons (anti-personnel mines, cluster munitions, chemical and biological weapons, including white phosphorous) from all our funds.

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Taking our responsibilities seriously

We believe that engagement with issuers and an active voting policy are essential to long-term value creation. Each year we attend 1,200 general meetings and vote on nearly 16,000 resolutions. We also lead or participate in some 50 collaborative initiatives to positively influence companies' sustainability strategies.

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Taking action

We are responsible in two ways: by investing directly in companies that provide solutions to the challenges we face, and by supporting, through the Candriam Institute for Sustainable Development, projects that work towards building a more sustainable society in the fields of health, education and ESG research, social inclusion and well-being, or the environment (circular economy, climate change and just transition).

Promoting dialogue as the key to success

We maintain an ongoing dialogue with the companies in which we invest, combining our ESG research with an engagement policy that places particular emphasis on fair working conditions, the energy transition, and business ethics.

Our shareholder commitment & votes in detail

Applying to ourselves what we ask of others

  • Being a long-term partner for our clients and stakeholders
  • Creating conditions for a rewarding and lasting professional life for our teams
  • Acting responsibly with regard to each and every employee
  • Applying rigorous governance and compliance processes
  • Publier un rapport annuel RSE décrivant nos actions en tant qu'entreprise responsable
  • Adopting an ambitious climate policy, aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement
ESG is an integral part of all our investment decisions.

Leaving nothing to chance

Our exclusion policy is applied to all our investments. We are continuously developing our non-financial criteria in order to accurately assess the sources of growth as well as long-term risks, and how these contribute to or jeopardise our sustainability objectives.

1. Exclusion

We exclude companies that are involved in controversial activities (e.g. alcohol, gambling, tobacco, etc.) and we ensure that our selection of companies complies with the major international agreements.

Candriam Exclusion Policy

2. ESG research

The team has developed its own ESG analysis methodology that is applied to three types of issuer: companies, governments, and supranational organisations. Company ESG analysts are specialised by ESG theme, in order to create expertise hubs to improve the development of strategies and provide the investment teams with a better understanding of the specific risks and opportunities associated with each of the three themes: E, S and G.

Our SRI publications

3. ESG rating

The ESG universe consists of the best-positioned companies based on ESG ratings resulting from the analysis of the company's activities and stakeholders and which have also passed the normative analysis and the control of exposure to controversial activities.

4. Valuation

In making recommendations, our analysts carry out an in-depth study of the company's business and financial profile by including ESG criteria when evaluating companies, using a comprehensive framework.

5. Long-term investor

We are an active investor in order to encourage transparency, promote sustainable practices, and support investment decisions. We maintain regular contact with companies via a direct dialogue, and we participate in or drive collaborative initiatives at the same time as exercising our voting rights.

Our shareholder commitment & votes in detail

Figures are worth a thousand words. 

€114bn

AuM

2006

Founding PRI signatory

1996

First SRI strategy

24

ESG experts

Impact investing

An impact investment is made with the intention of having a positive and measurable social and environmental impact, accompanied by financial performance. This notion of intentionality is fundamental. Impact investments have been designed with the aim of creating a significant positive impact for society or the environment.

Read more

FUNDS

Do you want to know more about our sustainable funds?

Latest analyses

  • ESG, SRI, Vincent Compiègne, Water

    Why Water Matters: Sovereign Sustainable Investing

    China dominates the entire value chain for electric transport motors. The European Union has imposed provisional tariffs to protect its regional auto industry from ‘dumping’, or unfair pricing, of subsidized electric vehicle imports from China. Yet the EU is actively attempting to accelerate the uptake of EVs to meet its 2035 emissions targets.
  • Alix Chosson, Elouan Heurard, ESG, SRI, Biodiversity

    COP16: too little, too late.

    Two years after the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Agreement, the progress on global biodiversity goals remains mixed. Despite commitments, a limited number of countries (44 out of 196) have submitted their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans. The parties have agreed to submit their plans as soon as possible, with a global review scheduled for COP17 and COP19.
  • ESG, SRI

    Demographic Dividends: Investing in the Future

    Demographic shifts, from ageing populations to rising middle classes, present long-term, diversified investment opportunities, as these structural changes are reshaping the global economy.
  • Research Paper, ESG, SRI, Sovereign Sustainability, Vincent Compiègne, Kroum Sourov, Water

    Water is more than just a resource

    Climate change may be the greatest threat to sustainability, but water vulnerability is potentially the most urgent, likely to play out in a shorter time frame.
  • ESG, SRI, Oncology

    Five Reasons to Invest in the Oncology Market Today

    The investment landscape is evolving against a backdrop of rising economic uncertainties and a cautious market environment, further complicated by geopolitical tensions and upcoming elections.
  • Q&A, ESG, SRI, Kroum Sourov, Christopher Mey, Emerging Markets

    Sustainable: an emerging market for emerging debt

    Kroum Sourov and Christopher Mey, portfolio managers of the sustainable emerging market debt strategy, describe the significance this type of analysis can have for a bond portfolio. They explain Candriam’s investment process, with our emphasis on relative value and risk management. This approach is intended to allow the strategy to adapt the ever-changing markets over the course of an economic cycle.
  • Research Paper, Climate Action, ESG, SRI, Alix Chosson

    Net Zero Progress Report

    We promised you transparency. For a comprehensive discussion of our efforts and results, see our [annual] Net Zero Progress Report 2024. We frequently say that it is not just the carbon target, but the path to that target which affects the damage along the way. In this spirit, we share with you along the way our milestones for the four pillars of our Net Zero strategy.

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