Ircantec awards nearly €1.6 billion in equity index mandates to Amundi, BNP Paribas AM

French complementary pension scheme Ircantec awarded nearly €1.6 billion in equity index mandates to Amundi and BNP Paribas Asset Management on October 14, ESG Today reported.

The awards split into two European equity index funds of nearly €400 million each, one run by Amundi and one by BNPP AM, plus an €800 million global fund for Amundi. Each mandate spans seven years. Based on the fund sizes Ircantec gave, Amundi's two funds account for roughly €1.2 billion of the total and BNPP AM's single European fund for roughly €400 million.

All three funds track a customized MSCI SRI index built around Ircantec's SRI charter and climate objectives. The index requires 7% portfolio decarbonization a year, a carbon footprint at least 50% below the benchmark at all times, and exposure to high-impact sectors at least equal to the benchmark's. Because the carbon footprint condition alone could be met by holding less of the heaviest-emitting sectors, the floor requiring exposure at least equal to the benchmark's requires the managers to find reductions within those sectors.

Amundi and BNPP AM will also follow Ircantec's voting policy and engage regularly with portfolio companies on ESG issues. Ircantec said the award illustrates its desire to select managers capable of combining index management, extra-financial requirements and support for economic, environmental and social transitions.

Ircantec has more than €17 billion, about $18.4 billion, invested in financial markets. In 2021 it set commitments aimed at keeping its reserves on a path compatible with a 1.5°C scenario, including a strategy to phase out fossil fuels by 2030 and a target to reduce emissions from portfolio companies by 7% a year on average until 2050.