A new SRI ambition for La Financière de l’Echiquier

Highlighting La Financière de l’Echiquier’s (LFDE) ambitions in the field of socially responsible investing, Echiquier ISR becomes Echiquier Positive Impact, a French-law SRI SICAV.

The choice of a SICAV as the investment vehicle is deliberate, as a way to align demanding governance practices with those of the companies in which it invests. The board of directors is made up of four prominent figures from very diverse backgrounds, three of whom are independent.

In addition, faithful to LFDE’s philanthropic DNA exemplified by more than 10 years of engagement through the La Financière de l’Echiquier Foundation, the SICAV is also a vehicle for solidarity. A portion of the management fees is now paid to the La Financière de l’Echiquier Foundation which intervenes in favour of education and professional integration. Following Echiquier Excelsior which has included a fee-sharing mechanism since its inception in 2004, and the creation of a sharing share class unit for Echiquier Agressor in 2013, this represents the third initiative to increase the La Financière de l’Echiquier Foundation’s resources.

Echiquier Positive Impact, already including assets under management of approximately €25 million[1], is a stock-picking SICAV fund, unconstrained with respect to style or size, investing in the universe of European equities based on their good ESG practices and the contributions of their businesses in providing solutions to the challenges of sustainable development. The goal of this SICAV, with the French government SRI label, is to concretely contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) defined by the United Nations.

“Echiquier Positive Impact’s launch is a strong message to our customers and partners about LFDE’s commitment to socially responsible investing. This first milestone must inaugurate ongoing dialogue with them on this subject, in order to – in particular – raise awareness about our expertise in this area. We are moreover extremely pleased to have facilitated the transformation of the fund into a SICAV, made possible by the advances of the FROG (French Routes & Opportunities Garden) working group. Combined with significant interest by foreign investors in this type of investment vehicle, it will open up new opportunities for other aeras of our fund range “, commented Didier Le Menestrel, Chairman-CEO of LFDE.

Since its inception, Echiquier Positive Impact has generated a return of 92.5% (9.0% annualized) with a volatility of 15.9%. Since the beginning of the year, the fund has registered growth of 16.8% compared to 10.3% for its benchmark, MSCI Europe NR. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. As such the fund incurs a risk of capital loss and is exposed to different market risks.

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About La Financière de l’Echiquier – www.lfde.com

Created in 1991, La Financière de l’Echiquier is one of France’s leading independent asset management companies with more than €8 billion in assets under management and a team of one hundred employees. LFDE is wholly-owned by its management and employees. Its business: managing savings and financial investments for retail customers, wealth management advisors and institutional customers. LFDE is also present in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Benelux. LFDE has been a signatory of the PRI since 2008 and the Montreal Carbon Pledge since 2017.

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Press contacts

Laurent Sécheret / lsecheret@lfde.com / +33 (0)1 53 23 87 48
Géraldine Fanara / gfanara@lfde.com / +33 (0)1 47 23 98 12
Anne Auchatraire / aauchatraire@image7.fr / +33 (0)1 53 70 74 68
Anne-Charlotte Créac’h / acc@image7.fr / + 33 (0)1 53 70 94 21

[1] All data is from 20 October 2017.