Impact Finance, a look back at our event

Impact finance marks another milestone in sustainable finance. On Thursday, March 25 at Bercy, a local initiative on impact finance was launched by Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery, Olivia Grégoire, Secretary of State for the Social, Solidarity and Responsible Economy, and Thierry Déau, President of Finance for Tomorrow, the Paris EUROPLACE branch dedicated to sustainable finance. Its aim is to make Paris the world’s leading financial center for impact finance. Opening the event, Bruno Le Maire stressed the importance of finance in achieving a political economy, which must have a purpose. It’s time to put finance at the service of the common good. France is a leader on this issue, and the challenge for the future is to constantly seek to ‘correct and improve our actions’. Criteria must be more demanding and transparent to provide concrete answers to critics of financial sector initiatives.

‘France is the leading nation on the issue of impact finance. When you’re a leader, you have to keep your place, and to keep your place, you have to be able to innovate.’Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Economic Recovery

The event ‘ Impact finance : a fad or a fundamental trend in sustainable finance ? ‘ Augustin de Romanet reminded participants of the need to define impact, which goes one step further than ESG. Like ‘do no harm’, the ambition is to produce a positive impact on the common good. Within Paris EUROPLACE, working groups have been set up to address issues such as access to social and environmental data, and taxonomy. The work of Finance for Tomorrow will support this approach to establish a clear, multi-stakeholder methodological framework.

‘Finance For Tomorrow is very committed to an approach that aims to provide as clear a framework as possible for the best that can be derived from impact finance.’Augustin de Romanet, Chairman of Paris EUROPLACE

Back to the morning’s three round tables. The roundtables addressed the major challenges currently facing impact finance, with a view to successfully embedding this fundamental trend in our practices. 1. The need for a definition, a shared vision and a common ambition. The first round table considered it essential to agree collectively on a definition of impact, so that the Paris marketplace can get up to speed and speak with a coherent voice on the international stage. Impact is based on three major pillars: intentionality, additionality and measurability. However, the lack of a common reference point prevents the notion from spreading uniformly across players, asset classes, listed and unlisted companies. The challenge is to put the investor’s commitment at the heart of the dynamic for change. It is therefore urgent to unite French players around a common ambition. In this way, everyone will be able to make the collective definition their own, and work within a methodological framework that qualifies impact performance. Working on impact finance should enable investors to act using a common language, and savers to benefit from better information on the real impact of their investments. 2. The need for best practices and impact assessment methodologies Measuring impact is essential: it’s the foundation of every possible idea for improvement. The second round table therefore focused on the robustness of methodologies. Indeed, the latter suffers from considerable heterogeneity in terms of the choice of methodology according to several criteria, including the objective sought. The issue at stake revolves around data production, access and verification. In order to harmonize these methodologies, an overview of existing work has been drawn up. These will form the basis for proposing a methodological framework capable of qualifying the impact or sustainable transformation performance of a portfolio of assets.

‘Measuring impact is essential: it is the foundation of any possible idea for improvement.’Thierry Déau, Chairman of Finance for Tomorrow and CEO of Meridiam

3. The need for a regulatory framework to support impact finance The third round table highlighted the need for French players to have a toolbox, in relation to the new European transparency requirements currently being drawn up. France has distinguished itself in the field of green and sustainable finance thanks to its solid regulatory framework, the ambition of which has helped to influence the progress of the European strategy on sustainable finance. This is why a label supported by the European Union or by France, following the example of the SRI label, would contribute to the standardization of impact finance indicators’. These regulatory changes should enable impact finance to meet the aspirations of citizens who wish to mobilize their savings, and ensure that the results of this financial commitment are concrete and measurable, as opposed to the ‘green or social-washing’ practices that undermine investor confidence. To conclude this morning’s event, Olivia Grégoire thanked the men and women who are working alongside her to ensure that finance and the common good are no longer mutually exclusive. ‘

OliviaGrégoire, Secretary of State for the Social and Responsible Economy

To live or relive this morning, watch the replay of the speeches and round tables below!