Become a client

Are you a client? You should contact your private banker. 
You are not a client but would like to have more information about Societe Generale Private Banking? Please fill in the form below.

* Mandatory fields

Local contacts

France: +33 (0)1 53 43 87 00 (9am - 6pm)

Luxembourg: +352 47 93 11 1 (8:30am - 5:30pm)

Monaco: +377 97 97 58 00 (9/12am - 2/5pm)

Switzerland: Geneva +41 22 819 02 02 & Zurich +41 44 218 56 11 (8:30am - 5:30pm)

Claims

Understanding Responsible Investment #9 - Focus on sustainable passive management

Discover the ninth episode of our "Understanding Responsible Investment" podcasts series.

Dorothée Chapuis: Hello everyone and welcome to the ninth episode of our "Understanding Responsible Investment" podcasts series. I am Dorothée Chapuis, Head of CSR for Société Générale Private Banking Luxembourg, Monaco and Switzerland and I am with Gilles Guesdon, Head of SGPB’s external funds offer.

Dorothée Chapuis: Gilles, can you give us the definition of passive management, please?

Gilles Guesdon: Passive management occurs when the portfolio construction process is not based on the intervention of an asset manager, as opposed to active management where the choice of investments is based on a manager's conviction. Passive management mainly covers index funds that exactly replicate the composition and behaviour of market indices. Among these index funds, there are those that can be traded continuously on the market and which are called ETFs, "Exchange Trade Funds". These ETFs replicate all kinds of market indices on the main asset classes: stocks, bonds and money market.

Dorothée Chapuis: Very well. I think there is a debate to classify such funds as responsible investments, tell us why?

Gilles Guesdon: Yes, there is a debate because of their very nature: when responsible investment first emerged, some management professionals did not recognise their status as socially responsible products. The reason put forward was that portfolio construction was not a choice that took into account extra-financial criteria. In passive management, the key factor in portfolio construction is to follow an index as closely as possible. Some also criticized the automation of index management, which, in the event of market excesses, both on the downside and the upside, could be a factor in accelerating volatility. Advocates of responsible passive management -which I personally am -explain that one should not look at how the fund's portfolio is constructed, but at how the underlying index is constructed. There is a whole series of indices that are constructed by explicitly taking ESG criteria into account (see podcast #3 in which we defined these notions). For example, some indices have ESG exclusion filters, or to include minimum ESG scores. There are also indices that target themes and some of these themes are linked to the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. This is how we can say that passive management, if it does follow a sustainable index, can be qualified as sustainable. The defenders of this thesis have seen their position reinforced by the European Commission. As part of its major sustainable finance project, two new sustainable indices are being introduced: the "EU Climate Transition" index and the "EU Paris-Aligned" index. The first is aimed at companies involved in transition activities and the second at those with a business strategy aligned with the Paris 2%C alignment agreements, taken in 2015 at COP 21.

Dorothée Chapuis: Thank you Gilles, we have a better understanding of how an index fund can be sustainable. We have to make sure that the index being tracked is also sustainable. And what about the other aspect that characterizes SRI investment, namely commitment?

Gilles Guesdon: With regard to commitment and voting policy, the principle is the same, in the end, as for other non-index funds. From the moment the portfolio is invested in equities, the manager of an index fund or ETF is in a position, on the one hand, to meet with companies to question them about their progress and, on the other hand, to exercise his or her voting rights.

Dorothée Chapuis: Very clear, thank you Gilles! With a voting and commitment policy and a sustainable index or ESG, an index fund or ETF has all the conditions to be considered as contributing to responsible finance.

Gilles Guesdon: That's exactly right, Dorothée. Turning to our offering, Societe Generale Private Banking selects ESG ETFs across a variety of asset classes. Our main partner, Lyxor, the asset management subsidiary of the Société Générale group, markets ETFs that have been awarded the SRI label by the French government, as well as the main fund indexed on a Green Bond index, which has been awarded the Greenfin label by the French Ministry of Ecological Transition (see podcast n°2, "Performance and Labels").

Dorothée Chapuis: Thank you very much, Giles, for that clarification. It is understandable that with the responsible finance labels, ETFs are sustainable and positive products that are very interesting to consider, provided of course that they also correspond to your objectives, depending on the level are willing to accept in terms of risk. During our discussions, Gilles, you mentioned, the notion of the 2°C alignment of the Paris Agreements. These notions will be discussed in a future episode. Thank you, Gilles, for answering my questions, and see you very soon.

Gilles Guesdon: You’re welcome, Dorothée, I was delighted to be part of this episode and to bring you my insights. Goodbye!


This podcast is part of a series of episodes proposed by Societe Generale Private Banking to understand responsible investment. It is available on the Spotify and Apple Podcasts streaming platforms via the "#Private Talk by Societe Generale Private Banking" program and on our website www.privatebanking.societegenerale.comFeel free to subscribe to be notified when the next episode is released and to spread the word.

 

 

Important information
The content provided on this page is for informational purposes only and is not contractually binding. The materials contained herein are not intended to provide investment advice or any other investment service and do not constitute a personal recommendation, advice, or an offer from Societe Generale Private Banking to purchase, sell or subscribe to investment services and/or financial products and/or investments in the aforementioned asset class. Some of the products, services and solutions described can carry various risks and involve the potential loss of the entire invested amount, if not theoretically unlimited loss. As such, they are reserved for a certain category of investors and/or adapted solely for informed investors who are eligible for such products, services and solutions. The information set out above shall not be considered legal, tax or accounting advice.
The wealth management and financial solutions, offers, products, services and activities mentioned on this page depend on each client’s personal situation, the legislation applying to them, and their tax residence. Consequently, the offer presented may not be eligible for implementation, adaptation or approval at all of the Societe Generale Private Banking entities and must comply with Societe Generale Group's Tax Code of Conduct. Furthermore, access to some of these products, services and solutions is subject to specific conditions, notably in respect of eligibility.
Please contact your private banking adviser to check that these offers meet your needs and are suited to your investor profile (knowledge, experience in investment, financial situation, including ability to withstand losses, and investment objectives, including risk tolerance).
Societe Generale Private Banking shall under no circumstances be held liable for any decision taken by a reader on the basis of this information. Before Societe Generale Private Banking can provide a potential investor with an investment service and/or a subscription to financial products, the investor must first be made aware of, understand and sign the related informative and contractual documentation, notably in respect of the associated risks (prospectus, Key Investor Information Document, Term Sheet, etc.). The potential investor must not base his/her investment decision and/or give investment instructions solely on the basis of this document.
All Societe Generale Private Banking entities reserve the right not to update or amend this document and shall accept no liability in this regard. The present document has the sole aim of informing investors, who will make their investment decisions without overly relying on this publication. The Societe Generale Private Banking entities shall under no circumstances be held liable for the accuracy, relevance or exhaustiveness of this information. The Societe Generale Private Banking entities give no explicit or implicit guarantees as to the accuracy or exhaustiveness of this information or of the profitability or performance of any asset class, country or market.
This document is not intended as a list or summary of all the terms and conditions pertaining to financial products, nor to identify all or some of the risks that may be involved in the acquisition and/or sale of a financial product/investment in any of the aforementioned asset classes.
The historical data and the information and opinions herein have been obtained from, or are based upon, external sources that Societe Generale Private Banking entities believe to be reliable but have not been independently verified. The Societe Generale Private Banking entities shall under no circumstances be liable for the accuracy, relevance or exhaustiveness of this information. Information provided on past performance, even repeated performances, is in no way a guarantee of future performance and may not be repeated. The value of an investment is not guaranteed and the value of investments may fluctuate. These forecasts about future performances are based on assumptions which may not be realised and do not therefore provide any assurance or guarantee with regard to the expected results of the investments in the aforementioned asset classes.
Generally speaking, Societe Generale Group companies may be market makers, conduct transactions involving the securities referred to on this page, and may provide banking services to companies whose asset classes are mentioned on this page, as well as the subsidiaries thereof. Societe Generale Group companies may, from time to time, conduct transactions, generate profits, hold securities or act as adviser, broker or banker in relation to these securities, or derivatives thereof, or in connection with the asset classes mentioned in this document. Societe Generale Group companies may, from time to time, acquire or liquidate positions on the securities, or the underlying assets (including derivatives), mentioned on this page or, where applicable, any other assets. Consequently, this may affect any returns for a potential investor either directly or indirectly. Societe Generale Group companies have no obligation to disclose this page or take it into account in providing advice or conducting transactions with a client or on behalf of a client. The administrative structure of the Societe Generale Group includes all safeguards needed to identify, control and manage conflicts of interest. To this end, Societe Generale Private Banking entities have implemented a conflict of interest management policy to prevent such conflicts of interest. For further details, Societe Generale Private Banking clients may refer to the conflict of interest management policy given to them by the Societe Generale Private Banking entity of which they are clients.

Dorothée Chapuis Head of CSR for SGPB Luxembourg, Monaco and Switzerland

Ask us your questions

Contact us