La Médicale offers two new SRI funds on its Médicale Investissement 1 and 2 policies

As part of the social and environmental responsibility policy that Crédit Agricole Assurances signed up to in 2009, La Médicale, the insurance company for independent health care workers, is offering two new socially responsible investment (SRI) funds under its Médicale Investissement 1 and 2 life insurance policies.

To cater to growing demand from customers wishing to give their investments a socially useful purpose, La Médicale has added two SRI funds to its existing range. The new funds will supplement LCL Actions Développement Durable Euro and Amundi Funds Clean Planet, already available under the Médicale Investissement policy.

• Insertion Emplois Dynamique targets customers interested in investments that assist the unemployed. Established in 1994 this community fund – the first in France – is invested mainly in the shares of French and eurozone companies, with between 90 per cent and 95 per cent of its assets held in socially responsible eurozone shares. A further 5 per cent to 10 per cent is invested through Société d’Investissement France Active (SIFA) in socially responsible companies that hire people with work re-entry difficulties, and through socially useful organisations that generate employment. 
• Amundi Actions Europe ISR is intended for retail investors wanting to contribute to sustainable development while earning a return equivalent to that on European stockmarkets. The fund is invested in European companies selected for their sustainable development commitments and practices and ranked according to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria.

The new products will be launched on a market that is still in its infancy – accounting for 2.39 per cent of the total market – but is nevertheless dynamic. Assets under management in SRI vehicles rose by 68 per cent between December 2008 and December 2009*.