A signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment since 2009, French ICMIF member MAIF has made responsible investment a major focus of its investment policy. In 2020, the MAIF Group says it is taking a further step by adopting a demanding climate strategy which, it is hoped, will contribute to a climate transition which is inclusive for all stakeholders.

MAIF became what is known in France as a “Sociéte A Mission” (a company with a mission) in July of this year and this new approach is part of the Group’s desire to develop a business model whose sustainable performance is based on sincere attention paid to all of its stakeholders. In particular, the approach has a dual objective:

• Put its investment strategy at the service of the fight against global warming, while maintaining the same level of demand in terms of yield and financial performance for its members,
• Preserve the interests of its members by controlling the impact of climate change on its investment portfolio.

Aware of its responsibility as an insurer and investor, MAIF says it wishes to contribute to the energy and ecological transition by having a positive environmental and societal impact and is committed to serving an inclusive climate transition.

To do this, the Group has just adopted a “climate strategy” which takes into account the consequences of climate change in its business as an institutional investor.

An ambitious goal

MAIF’s Board of Directors, made up of representatives of its members and employees, has decided to include the group’s investment approach in a proactive Climate strategy which is in line with the objective of the Paris Agreement, by targeting the alignment of its investment portfolio on a trajectory as close as possible to 1.5 ° C by 2030.

Pascal Demurger, Chief Executive Officer of MAIF Group said: “Responsible investment is a key dimension of our project as a humanist and militant insurer. As a company with a mission, MAIF’s ambition is that, over time, each euro invested has a positive impact on its ecosystem.”

Total coal exit by 2030

To achieve this ambitious goal, MAIF is taking things further and has said it is committed to completely phasing out coal by 2030.

MAIF, which has implemented a coal exclusion policy since 2018, will now apply the following criteria to its direct investments in the financial markets and to its dedicated funds, whether these are new investments or companies already present in its portfolio:

• Exclusion of mining companies that produce thermal coal,
• Exclusion of companies developing new mining, power plant and coal infrastructure projects
• Exclusion of companies that generate more than 10% of their electricity from coal,
• Exclusion of companies making more than 10% of their turnover from coal,
• Exclusions of companies with a coal-fired electricity generation capacity greater than 5 GW.

Since 2018, MAIF has asked its partner management companies every year about their coal policy. MAIF now wishes to go further and is committed to dialogue with these partners and gradually strengthening its demands of them in terms of coal and climate policies.

The mutual will regularly report on the policies which have implemented and the residual exposure of its investments to coal.

A climate strategy geared towards an inclusive climate transition

In line with its raison d’être, which aims to guarantee real improvements in the common good, MAIF is keen to see its investments make a positive impact generally in terms of the climate, that is to say the mutual wishes to implement a gradual transformation of its growth model towards greater  sustainability for man and his ecosystem. It is about working towards a transition that creates sustainable jobs, is attentive to social inequalities and regional development and promotes more sustainable lifestyles.

The main themes of the climate strategy applied to the investments of the MAIF group are:

Theme 1: Build and promote a collective commitment to the climate, supported by the Board of Directors and involving MAIF employees at all levels of responsibility, but also its ecosystem, in particular the companies financed and the managers of external financial assets.

Theme 2: Improve the climate performance of investments, both by controlling climate risks associated with financial assets and increasing contribution to the success of the Paris Agreement, this will contribution via MAIF’s savings offer to customers, and to enable its members to mobilise their savings in favour of a positive transition in terms of energy and ecology, for example through MAIF’s Responsible and Solidarity life insurance and the Responsible and Solidarity PER contracts.

Theme 3: Strengthen the positive impacts of investments, in particular by developing funds which respond to environmental and societal challenges, like MAIF Transition, which provides financing solutions for the energy and agricultural transition.

Theme 4: Transparent communication on the results of the climate strategy.