Some 153 billion euros, approximately twice the national education budget. This was the weight of funds holding at least one “sustainable finance” label in life insurance at the end of 2023, according to France Assureurs. It was barely 6 billion five years earlier! This leap forward in responsible assets within the king of French investments first occurred under increasing regulatory pressure. On the advice side, your intermediary – banker, insurer, broker, etc. – must inquire about your expectations in terms of “sustainability” and offer you suitable investments. On the supply side, any contract – except one comprising only a fund in euros – must contain at least one investment medium (or unit of account) labeled ISR (Socially Responsible Investment), another Greenfin (green) and a third Finansol (solidarity ). Finally, the insurer is required to indicate the percentage of labeled funds present in the envelope it presents to you.
The problem ? There is now a vibrant offering on the market, which goes well beyond legal obligations. “Insurers now have multiple units of account, and not just equity funds,” notes Pascale Baussant, manager of Baussant Conseil and member of the ISR label committee. “This allows them to respond to the demands of their clients with thematic funds on the “water, wood, climate or employment, immediately decipherable by the saver.”
The race for the best bidder is on. Large brands, particularly banks, continue to diversify their range of SRI-labelled funds, which sometimes reaches their entire offering, as at Société Générale. Thematic managed management solutions labeled ESG (environmental, social and governance) also abound, from Crédit Mutuel Arkéa to Axa, via the Agipi association, including many online contracts. Some mutualist players also stand out by recalling their convictions, such as Groupama, Maif or Macif, which have been offering “responsible” solutions for several years.
This excitement is reflected in the figures: the Quantalys ISR 2023 observatory, an organization compiling financial data, lists on average 302 ISR-labeled funds per contract! Beware of statistical illusion, however. Many envelopes on the market actually contain only 10 to 30 media, of which only a handful are durable. Among specialized brokers and wealth management advisors, the referencing of green funds is much denser: logically, their contracts are savings supermarkets, with hundreds (even thousands) of supports available.
Beware of marketing!
Another magnifying glass effect comes from the proliferation of online players. In addition to well-known brands like Fortuneo and BoursoBank, whose offering is partially certified, all the young digital startups (ActiveSeed, Goodvest, Green-Got, etc.) are launching envelopes with 100% “responsible” content, in the form of management more often piloted. Note also the arrival of savers associations like Kaori, created by Secours catholique, which distributes very committed life insurance. An interesting initiative, even if the outstanding amount of these newcomers remains marginal. And if we often find the same insurers behind these distributors, in this case Generali for the aforementioned offers.
In this market which is moving forward in disjointed order, the saver must absolutely go beyond the well-oiled marketing of the “green” offer. Good to know: the market policeman (the ACPR) criticized life insurers at the end of 2022 for their advertising that could mislead customers about the reality of their commitments. Some experts go even further, like lawyer Olivier Laffitte, president of the Sustainable Finance Law Observatory: “Most, if not almost all, eco-responsible life insurance policies are far from meeting expectations. and requirements expressed by their subscribers”, he denounced in an article published in mid-2023. Like any investment, life insurance is not immune to the risk of green laundering.
This is why you must always stick to a strict analysis of the proposed offer. Life insurance is above all a savings product, the quality of which depends on its fee schedule, its financial offer and its services. So don’t forget to note the performance of the funds in question over several years. And don’t ignore the guaranteed euro fund, which remains predominant in portfolios. Finally, ask your interlocutor about the “sustainable” content of the latter; you will sometimes notice that he doesn’t really know anything about it…
Then, beyond the offer of labeled funds, do not hesitate to broaden the spectrum of responsible investment, by looking towards unlisted funds, sustainable infrastructure funds, real estate (increasingly real estate investment companies are labeled ISR) or growth funds (that of Generali was recently labeled Finansol).
Another useful way to invest
You can also follow the path of turnkey management, either to target a theme (for example, biodiversity), or to rely on labeled index funds, such as Yomoni or Nalo. Are these solutions found more among online players? Don’t worry about this; your savings are guaranteed by a major insurer, even if the broker were to close its doors. Only certain recent contracts do not contain funds in euros, preventing any protection of your savings.
Finally, take an interest in insurers historically committed to a green approach, like Maif, even if their offering is more limited. But don’t forget that a fund, SRI or not, is not synonymous with a capital guarantee, losses are always possible. So stay in tune with your saver profile.
And if all this seems too complicated to you, know that the Carac savings mutual offers you to allocate 1% of your payments to a mutual aid association (among six to choose from). In 2023, more than 200,000 euros will have been collected. Another useful way to invest with your life insurance.
Euro funds: the black box
Regulatory, insurers are required to publish an annual report specifying the portion of their fund in euros invested in responsible and solidarity supports. In fact, there is often silence regarding the investments actually made.
However, a few insurers (mutualists) stand out on the subject. For example, Suravenir (Crédit Mutuel Arkéa) indicates that 31% of the investments made in its euro assets were in “sustainable” supports. The MACSF has, for its part, made quantified commitments according to asset classes. 85% of the assets of its fund in euros are also covered by an ESG analysis. Mutualist France also indicates that it has devoted 53% of its bond investments to green or social bonds in 2023.
Finally, some initiatives are to be welcomed. This spring, the company Spirica, a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole, launched a fund in euros called Objectif Climat, comprising “a selection of funds impacting the energy and ecological transition”. Even more concrete: Maif’s euro fund is labeled Finansol.
No mistake, however: the priority of insurers is to feed their euro assets with profitable bond securities. Whether they are responsible or not.
An article from the special report “Responsible Investments”, published in L’Express on May 30.
.