La Banque Postale Asset Management and Tocqueville Finance launch an Biodiversity equity fund
La Banque Postale Asset Management (LBP AM) and its subsidiary Tocqueville Finance announce a new wildlife preservation initiative, with the launch of a global equity fund: Tocqueville Biodiversity ISR. The new fund targets companies providing biodiversity preservation solutions. Launched with the support of CNP Assurances, which has committed to investing 120 million euros, the fund provides a concrete illustration of the La Banque Postale group’s engagement towards biodiversity.
Vital issues are at stake: up to 55% of global GDP (The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, 2019) is based on services provided by nature and more than one million species could already be threatened with extinction. In France, awareness of these issues is gaining ground, particularly with the introduction of the Energy Climate law, which obliges institutional investors and asset management companies to publish the risks associated with biodiversity loss incurred by financial products.
As a signatory in 2021 of the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, LBP AM and its subsidiary Tocqueville Finance have stepped up their engagement in the fight against biodiversity loss with the new Tocqueville Biodiversity ISR fund. The fund selects companies that provide solutions to biodiversity and natural capital preservation issues. Their biodiversity footprint is calculated with Biodiversity Impact Analytics powered by the Global Biodiversity Score™ from CDC Biodiversity and Carbon4 Finance, which is one of the decision support tools. The fund qualifies as an Article-9 fund under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
The Tocqueville Biodiversity ISR fund’s investment universe covers four principal themes: sustainable agriculture & foods (regenerative agriculture, sustainable food production, reforestation and sustainable forest management), the circular economy (collection and recycling systems, recyclable or biodegradable packaging), green buildings (new construction materials) and environmental services & solutions (water, air and land treatment, depollution technologies).
The portfolio management team draws on four levers to deploy investments within this universe:
- Identifying solutions: the fund selects companies providing solutions through their products or services, particularly specialist players offering products and services contributing towards reducing the pressures on biodiversity.
- Stewardship: LBP AM and Tocqueville Finance identify and support companies with a significant biodiversity footprint, introducing goals and strategies to mitigate their impact, for example in reducing plastic usage.
- Best-in-class selection: aiming to identify impact companies, which are transitioning positively towards limiting their biodiversity footprint, by adapting their internal practices, and in their value chain.
- Exclusion policy: the fund does not finance companies involved in business activities which are putting pressure on biodiversity through deforestation.Vincent Cornet, LBP AM CIO and Tocqueville Finance Managing Director, explains: “At LBP AM and Tocqueville Finance, we have a deep conviction that meeting the climate challenge will be impossible without greater wildlife preservation. With 3 billion of assets under management invested at the end of August 2022 in energy transition and biodiversity themes, LBP AM and Tocqueville Finance have resolutely committed to a more sustainable and maintainable world. The launch of Tocqueville Biodiversity is further proof of our engagement”.
Disclaimer: this is a marketing announcement. Please refer to the prospectus and the key investor information document before taking any final investment decisions. The Tocqueville Biodiversity ISR fund is a La Banque Postale Asset Management mutual fund with financial management delegated to Tocqueville Finance.
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