Investing in respect for future generations

Responsible investment is central to our investment approach. We consider that taking into account Environmental, Social and Governance issues is an essential element in our investment processes. This approach is part of a continuous process of analysis, improvement and transparency, carried out in close collaboration with the companies in which we invest.

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Our ESG policy is based on a clear and structured method: internal governance, exclusion policy, SRI voting policy, engagement policy, SFDR regulation, publication of detailed reports.

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Our aim is to offer investors solutions that are in line with regulatory requirements and best practices in terms of sustainability.

The ESG policy is defined by the IRIVEST Investment Managers Management Committee, composed of the CEO, the CIOs, the Chief Risk Officer, the Chief Compliance Officer and the COO.

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It is implemented by the investment teams and our ESG analyst, integrated into the application of quantitative models developed for our range of equity funds and applied to all investments in the “Digital Stars” and “DYNASTY” portfolios. Its strict application is checked daily by the risk manager.

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REMUNERATION POLICY

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To date, IRIVEST Investment Managers does not incorporate sustainability criteria into the assessment of the performance of its employees. On the other hand, managed funds, whose performance is an important component of the variable remuneration of several categories of employees, incorporate ESG criteria into their stock selection process. Our detailed compensation policy can be found on the “Regulatory Information” page on this site.

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Normative exclusions

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We exclude companies that manufacture or distribute anti-personnel mines from all of our funds, in accordance with the Ottawa Treaty (which came into force in 1999).

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We exclude companies that manufacture or distribute cluster munitions across all of our funds, in accordance with the Convention on Cluster Munitions (which came into force in 2010).

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We exclude companies that do not respect fundamental ethical standards (UN Global Compact), such as violation of individual rights, non-compliance with human rights, major environmental damage, etc.

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We exclude companies domiciled in controversial so-called high-risk jurisdictions that are subject to a “Call to Action” (e.g. Iran and North Korea) identified by the Financial Action Task Force.

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Exclusions based on sectors and related to controversial activities

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We have made the decision to exclude certain sectors and practices from our entire fund range and not to invest in companies that are in any of the following situations:

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Armament sector

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• ‍‍The company is involved in the production, sale or distribution of unconventional and/or controversial weapons. This includes cluster bombs, anti-personnel mines, chemical, biological or depleted uranium weapons, as well as white phosphorus and nuclear weapons;

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Energy sector

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• ‍‍Income from activities related to coal mining (thermal coal, metallurgical coal, coke) exceeds 10% of total turnover or production exceeds 20 million tons per year;
• All non-conventional oil and gas activities, such as the extraction of tar sands, shale oil, shale gas, and drilling in the Arctic, represent more than 5% of sales.

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Power generation sector

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• ‍‍Coal-fired power generation accounts for more than 10% of turnover, or the production capacity exceeds 10,000 MW;
• The sale, distribution or production of nuclear energy exceeds 5% of turnover. This includes the mining of uranium, the concentration, refining, refining, conversion, and enrichment of uranium as well as the production of nuclear fuel structures, and the construction and use of nuclear reactors. The same is true for the treatment of spent nuclear fuel, nuclear dismantling and the management of radioactive waste;

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Tobacco sector

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• ‍‍The production of traditional tobacco or related tobacco (such as e-cigarettes, new generation tobacco/nicotine products) exceeds 5% of turnover;
• The distribution or sale of tobacco represents more than 5% of total turnover.

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Biodiversity

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• ‍‍The production of pesticides, palm oil or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) represents more than 5% of turnover.

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Other sectors

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— Income from related activities:

• Gambling exceeds 5% of turnover;
• Alcohol represents more than 20% of turnover;
• For non-medicinal drugs exceeds 5% of turnover;
• Adult entertainment (pornography) accounts for more than 5% of turnover.

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Exclusions based on ESG controversies and risk reduction

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We have supplemented our existing risk policy with an ESG component. Indeed, risks related to human rights, labor, the environment and corruption can translate into risks to the reputation and finances of a company, and therefore into a risk for the final investor. Thus, we exclude companies with a high level of ESG controversy (levels defined in our ESG Risk Control procedure, available on request). To do this, we use the external RepRisk database.

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IRIVEST Investment Managers has set up an ISR voting policy with ISS as a partner.

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We therefore vote at all the general meetings of companies held in Digital Funds funds and apply the voting recommendations by default.

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ISRs provided by ISS research. The full ISR voting policy is available by following this link.

As a quantitative manager, access to data is crucial for IRIVEST Investment Managers, in particular for our all-cap funds or our small-cap equity fund. We are therefore looking to improve the availability of ESG data, more specifically on small and mid-caps.

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Thus for stocks not covered by ESG databases (in particular Sustainalytics and RepRisk), IRIVEST IM seeks to approach these data providers and the companies concerned to encourage them to communicate the necessary information. The full engagement policy is available by following this link.

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A lasting commitment

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IRIVEST Investment Managers has been a signatory of the UN PRI since 2019 and is committed to respecting all of its principles.

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An ESG activity report is produced every quarter. It includes:

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• The list of excluded companies, with details of the reasons for these exclusions;
• The average ESG indicators of funds and benchmarks, for comparison.

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A report on the exercise of voting rights is also produced every quarter.
This report is also available below.

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This responsible investment policy applies to our equity funds: Digital Stars Europe, Digital Stars Europe, Digital Stars Continental Europe, Digital Stars Europe Smaller Companies, Digital Stars US Equities and Digital Stars Eurozone. A specific policy applies to our Digital Stars Eurozone fund. These various policies are available below.

For its Article 8 SFDR compartments, IRIVEST Investment Managers takes into account the negative impacts of its investment decisions on ESG factors through the use of Reprisk indicators (https://www.reprisk.com). RepRisk's main research field includes 28 broad, comprehensive, and mutually exclusive ESG criteria. These 28 criteria form the basis of the entire research process, and each incident mentioned on RepRisk's ESG risk platform is linked to at least one of these criteria. RepRisk covers issues such as climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, global pollution, impact on landscapes, ecosystems and biodiversity, local pollution, waste treatment problems.