The quality approach of La Française Sub Debt reinforced by French SRI Label

La Française AM is pleased to announce that its flagship subordinated debt fund La Française Sub Debt – with close to €1 billion in assets under management* – has obtained the prestigious SRI (Socially Responsible Investment) Label, backed by French public authorities and awarded by EY France, a certification organisation approved by French accreditation body COFRAC.

La Française Sub Debt is a diversified portfolio comprising approximately 130 subordinated debt securities with an average Investment Grade issuer rating of A- (Source: La Française, as of 26/02/2021), co-managed by Paul Gurzal, Head of Credit, and Jérémie Boudinet, Credit Portfolio Manager.

The Fund, which falls within the scope of Article 8 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation - SFDR, aims to achieve an annualised performance of more than 7% over a recommended investment horizon of more than 10 years through exposure, in particular, to subordinated debt securities with a specific risk profile different from that of conventional bonds and to do so by investing in a portfolio of issuers screened in advance according to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria.

The Fund's management approach has remained unchanged since its inception in 2008 and is based on three fundamentals: liquidity, diversification and quality. Security selection now includes an in-depth extra-financial analysis, carried out by La Française Sustainable Investment Research (the Group's ESG research centre) based on a proprietary model. In consultation with the management team and thanks to a continuous dialogue, the ESG criteria of public and private issuers in the European Union, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Norway contribute to enrich the credit analysis and the selection of issuers. The Fund's historical management strategy remains unchanged, as it is aligned with the ESG selectivity approach implemented since 10 March 2021.

Jean-Luc Hivert, President and Global Head of Investments, La Française AM, commented, "La Française has been fully committed to sustainable investment since 2008. We believe finance will play a role in this transition, and our strategy is thus to market a range of 100% sustainable open-ended funds by the end of 2022. Obtaining the label for La Française Sub Debt was essential for us and natural for an asset class that is certainly very specific but perfectly reflects La Française AM's long-standing, top-notch expertise in the bond market. This is a new step forward in our commitment to sustainable finance. La Française AM now has 7 labelled funds (equities, credit and money market), underlining our leading position in sustainable strategies, particularly low-carbon strategies, developed in equities, credit and government bonds. We are currently implementing our sustainable strategy across all our asset classes to offer a sustainable multi-asset range."