AXA IM further embeds ESG capabilities across its business

• AXA IM further embeds ESG capabilities across its business
• Appointment of Responsible Investment experts

Building on its maturity as a longstanding responsible investor, AXA IM further embedded Responsible Investment (RI) capabilities within its two business units, AXA IM Alts and AXA IM Core, in 2020. RI is now fully embraced by all investment teams which perform RI-related activities as part of their day-to-day.

To complement and support these teams, AXA IM is bringing together experts who will work transversally on RI research and active ownership collaboratively and will further support innovation, notably to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 across all assets under management.

Showcasing the company’s leadership and focus on impact, they will develop research on key themes such as climate, biodiversity, human capital & diversity as well as health, and foster collaborative research across macro and fundamental credit. This will ensure a consistent application of their findings in AXA IM’s engagement and voting activities, thus helping to press for systemic change whilst guiding investment decisions on a long-term horizon, for the benefit of our clients.

Effective 1 March 2021, they will be organised as follows:

RI Research is placed under the responsibility of Virginie Derue. Her team will be responsible for thematic research with a focus on the themes mentioned above, ensuring it translates into implementable investment decisions across platforms.

RI Coordination and Governance is placed under the responsibility of Clémence Humeau. Her team will be responsible for transversal RI projects and corporate governance including voting policy on key themes mentioned above as well as Covid-19 and public health as well as data privacy.

Both Virginie Derue and Clémence Humeau report directly to Gilles Moëc, Head of Research of AXA IM and AXA Group Chief Economist.

RI activities relating to modelling, quantitative simulation, portfolio integration and investment oversight remain part of AXA IM’s Quant Lab, headed by Laurent Clavel.

“Responsible and Impact Investing have been key elements of AXA IM's strategy over the last years. This evolution completes the incorporation of all responsible investment activities into the standard investment, reporting, oversight and control processes of AXA IM, with AXA IM Alts and AXA IM Core being accountable for leading the way. We are convinced that embedding RI activities within our investment platforms while benefiting from strong industry experts to showcase our leadership in research and active ownership is a winning combination to further accelerate on RI,” said Marco Morelli, Executive Chairman of AXA IM.

"Going forward, we are committed to innovating and widening our product range in this space, to enable change to the benefit of society and our clients,” added Marco Morelli.

Biographies
Virginie Derue

Virginie Derue joined AXA IM in 1998 where she held various positions, notably Senior Credit Fixed Income Portfolio Manager between 2006 and 2011, Co-Head of Euro Credit team between 2011 and 2013, and Head of Credit Book for AXA Group portfolios between 2014 and 2019. Most recently, she was appointed Coordinator of corporate credit research, overseeing the integration of ESG risks and opportunities in fundamental research.

Prior to joining the company, Virginie was an Auditor at Ernst & Young.

Virginie hold a master’s degree in Research for Finance from University of Paris Dauphine and a bachelor’s degree from ESCP Europe.

Clémence Humeau

Clémence Humeau began her career as a consultant involved in Financial Audit and Corporate Valuation assignments between 2007 and 2012 at PWC.

She then joined AXA IM in 2012 as Strategic Auditor before being appointed Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive Officer in 2013. She became Responsible Investment coordinator in 2018, overseeing the definition of the ESG integration roadmap and its implementation, related projects and governances.

Clémence holds a master’s degree in Urban and Territorial Strategies from Sciences Po Paris