Exclusions
Since 2008, the FRR has had in place a system enabling it to monitor and prevent extra-financial risks that may have an impact not only on its investments but also on its reputation. Indeed, risksfor the FRR may arise from failure by a company in which it invests to observe universally recognized principles, such as those of the United Nations Global Compact and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), those of good governance such as the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), but also those of the international treaties ratified by France, particularly the Ottawa1 and the Oslo2 Treaties.
Prohibited Weapons
Each year, the FRR publishes an exclusions list approved by the Supervisory Board’s Responsible Investment Committee. This list is updated during the first half of each year, and published on the FRR’s website. It is based on a methodology which seeks to identify companies involved in the development, production, maintenance, use, distribution, stockpiling, transport or trade of banned weapons or their key components. Stakeholders have traditionally characterized these weapons as:
- weapons of mass destruction;
- nuclear, biological and chemical weapons;
- anti-personnel mines, cluster bombs and certain conventional weapons.
Exclusion List - May 2023
| Company | Country |
|---|---|
| Anhui GreatWall Military Industry Co., Ltd. | China |
| Anhui Military Industry Group Holding Co. Ltd. | China |
| Aryt Industries | Israel |
| Bharat Dynamics | India |
| Bharat Forge Ltd | India |
| China Aerospace Science & Technology Corp. | China |
| Firstec Co., Ltd. | South Korea |
| Guangdong Hongda Holdings Group Co., Ltd. | China |
| Hanwha Aerospace | South Korea |
| Hanwha Corp | South Korea |
| Hucentech Co., Ltd. | South Korea |
| KCP | India |
| L3Harris Technologies, Inc. | United States |
| LIG Nex1 | South Korea |
| MTAR Technologies Ltd. | India |
| Premier Explosives | India |
| Solar Industries India | India |
| Textron, Inc. | United States |
| United Engine Corp. JSC | Russia |
| VITZRO TECH Co., Ltd. | South Korea |
| VITZROCELL Co., Ltd. | South Korea |
Tobacco Industry
Smoking is recognised as one of the greatest and most serious threats to public health worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that smoking is responsible for nearly 12% of deaths among adults over the age of 30. In response, the WHO, governments and civil society are increasingly coming together to discourage tobacco consumption, and this could eventually weigh on these companies’ performance. The FRR also believes that dialogue with these companies cannot achieve anything, as the only question that can be asked of them is to quite simply give up their business. This exclusion will take effect at end-2017 with the elimination of the seven companies held through the FRR’s mandates. The FRR decided to divest from tobacco with the elimination of the seven tobacco producer companies held through the FRR’s mandates in 2017.
Coal
The FRR has been firmly committed to the ecological and energy transition theme these past three years. It has signed up to several international initiatives aimed at reducing its portfolio’s greenhouse gas emissions. It has also joined a coalition of investors demanding greater transparency in how businesses approach energy transition.
To reflect this commitment, the FRR has implemented an ambitious policy aimed at reducing its portfolio’s CO2 emissions through low carbon management. This is achieved through benchmarkindices that reduce CO2 emissions by at least half relative to standard indices, and by asking passive investment managers on most of the other indices to implement a management process that seeks to reduce the portfolio’s carbon footprint.
Going even further in his decarbonization policy, the FRR decided in 2018 to exclude companies whose thermal coal mining or coal-fired electricity, heat or steam generation business exceeds 10% of their revenue, unless they use a carbon capture and storage process. However, the manager may invest in companies whose activity of extracting thermal coal or producing electricity, heat or steam from coal exceeds 10% of their turnover if the object of this investment is to support these companies towards a new production model. In this case, the manager must justify his investment, in writing within one month after the first investment, as well as every December 31.
- Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction.
- Convention on the prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster bombs and on their destruction.