BIL's newly ESG-labelled funds will enable their investor clients to make responsible choices in line with their values. Photo: Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne

BIL's newly ESG-labelled funds will enable their investor clients to make responsible choices in line with their values. Photo: Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne

Four funds from the BIL Invest Patrimonial range have been awarded the ESG label by Luxflag for a one-year period. This brings the total number of ESG certified funds in Luxembourg to 267.

The ESG label ensures that environmental, social and governance criteria are applied in the selection of the investment portfolio. Not all bank investment products meet these criteria; it is both a strategic and demand-driven choice.

For several years, BIL has been committed to a sustainable development approach, which it is gradually deploying and improving. Its four funds in the BIL Invest Patrimonial range (BIL Invest Patrimonial Defensive, BIL Invest Patrimonial Low, BIL Invest Patrimonial Medium and BIL Invest Patrimonial High) have been awarded the ESG label by Luxflag for a period of one year, until September 2022.

Two months before the expiry date, Luxflag will send the bank a request to update the documentation, to assess whether the BIL Invest Patrimonial diversified investment products still comply with the ESG strategies and standards defined by Luxflag to renew the label.

“The Luxflag ESG label is recognised for its high standards and its rigorous assessment of the investment strategy of candidate funds and the integration of ESG factors in the analysis and decision-making process. It is also a guarantee of transparency for investors,” said Denise Voss, president of Luxflag.

A minimum stake of €25

Seasoned investors will see this as an opportunity to shift their choices to a new market standard. But this range will also be accessible to beginners, since the minimum stake is fixed at just €25.

A junior investor does not always know which type of portfolio to choose. However, more and more banks are offering their clients sustainable investment products, even if they are not all ESG-labelled, in line with the trends in consumer priorities revealed by the climate crisis and, more recently, by the pandemic.

Depending on the investor's profile, a fund portfolio will be composed more or less predominantly of equities (dynamic profile, potentially high risk and profitability), or bonds (conservative profile, lower risk and profitability), criteria that define the four BIL Invest funds. “Our clients can reconcile profitability and ESG objectives. By investing in these funds, they can have a positive impact, give meaning to their investments, while growing their wealth,” said Lionel De Broux, head of fund selection at BIL.

Luxflag had previously announced the ESG labelling of 22 additional funds, bringing the total number of Luxflag ESG labels in Luxembourg to 267, out of a total of 347 Luxflag labelled financial products (there are five different labels) at the end of September 2021, for an estimated amount of approximately €164.34bn.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited on Delano.

Correction: An previous version of this article incorrectly listed the total assets under management in Luxflag-labelled funds.