AXA IM announces 90% of AUM classified as Articles 8 & 9 under SFDR

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) announces that 90%^{All percentages exclude non applicable assets (assets that are managed outside the EU and therefore not in scope of the regulation). All figures as at 31 December 2020 unless otherwise specified.} of its eligible funds and strategies within Equities, Fixed Income and Multi-Asset – representing the majority of assets managed by AXA IM^{As at 31 December 2020, assets under management within Equities, Fixed Income and Multi-Asset stand at €587 billion out of which €460 billion are applicable under the SFDR.} – fall into Articles 8 and 9Eligible funds. The product categorisation is provided based on the basis of the European Directive (EU) 2019/2088 on the sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector (“SFDR Regulation”) and state of knowledge at the time of creation of this document. As of today the SFDR related regulatory technical standards are not yet finalised and enforced and while we monitor closely regulatory developments, the product categorisation shall be re-assessed once such regulatory technical standards are published and may evolve. of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the most demanding and stringent of the EU regulatory disclosures for sustainable investment funds.

As part of its commitment to becoming one of the world’s leading responsible investors, AXA IM announces the following with regards to its eligible funds and strategies within Equities, Fixed Income and Multi-Asset:

• 5% (€20bn of assets under management) of funds are now classified as sustainable or impact funds, demonstrating a sustainable objective and are therefore categorised as Article 9.
• 85% (€392bn of assets under management) of funds promote environmental or social characteristics and are ESG integrated, therefore are categorised as Article 8.
• 10% (€48bn of assets under management) of AXA IM’s funds integrate and assess sustainability risks and are therefore categorised as Article 6.

Marco Morelli, Executive Chairman at AXA Investment Managers, commented: “The SFDR regulation requires us to classify our product range for greater transparency and these figures demonstrate how far advanced AXA IM is in its journey to becoming one of the world’s leading responsible investors.”

“The regulation also aims to ensure financial market participants take into account sustainability risks and principle adverse impact across the assets they manage, something we had already been doing for many years. Our Responsible Investment framework has significantly developed over time, including our exclusion policies and proprietary ESG scoring methodologies, combined with our active ownership and stewardship initiatives.”

“True ESG integration is now a reality and the era of sustainability is reaching into every asset class and every portfolio. ESG is a critical input to our investment decision making and we are proud of what we have achieved so far and are ambitious in our goals. With already 90% of the assets comprised in our eligible funds and strategies falling into the most demanding and stringent of the EU regulatory requirements, our existing product range further reflects our commitment to sustainable finance. We expect this figure to grow over time as we further develop our sustainable product offering including in our Alternatives product range.”