BL Sustainable Horizon fund from BLI - Banque de Luxembourg Investments has been awarded two independent labels certifying the robustness of its ESG approach. The LuxFLAG ESG label is awarded by the non-profit Luxembourg Finance Labelling Agency. The SRI Label comes under an initiative from the French Finance Ministry. Both are aimed at making socially responsible investment (SRI) products more visible to savers in Europe and giving investors the assurance that the money invested in these products is actually invested according to environmental (E), social (S) and governance (G) criteria.
"With BL Sustainable Horizon, we are trying to go beyond our traditional fiduciary responsibility as asset managers and aiming to add our contribution to the edifice of responsible investment – to play our part in achieving a better economic, social and environmental balance through our investments," says Joël Reuland, Fund Manager at BLI - Banque de Luxembourg Investments, the fund management company of the private bank, Banque de Luxembourg.
"We appreciate these two SRI labels all the more since their award is subject to very strict compliance criteria and validated by committees of independent experts," adds Julien Jonas, SRI Strategist at BLI.
BL Sustainable Horizon's initial objective is to offer an investment solution in global equities with an attractive risk/return ratio over the long term. To this traditional financial objective, Joël Reuland adds concrete and measurable environmental, social and governance objectives. He does this by combining three complementary approaches to SRI investment: first, he excludes controversial sectors from his investment universe. Then he selects companies by differentiating between two segments: a quantitative segment made up of companies with superior ESG ratings and a themed segment which includes companies whose products or services contribute to the achievement of one or more of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The combination of these ESG approaches with BLI's solid fundamental financial analysis allows us to identify quality companies with clear competitive advantages and a sound ESG profile that will prove to be vectors for long-term value creation.
Joël Reuland concludes: “In a world marked by growing social, economic and environmental imbalances, a sustainable economy that emphasises social and environmental responsibility is more vital than ever."