Effective May 3, 2021

 

The management offered by Birdee is based on the use of exchange traded funds (ETFs). One of Birdee’s missions is the promotion of responsible investment to its clients, through a selection of ETFs characterised by responsible strategies.

European Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector, or the SFDR Regulation (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation), which entered into force on 10 March 2021, imposes rules on financial market participants and on financial advisers in the EU, on transparency regarding the integration of sustainability risks and the consideration of adverse sustainability impacts in their investment and advisory processes.

In other words, this Regulation aims to establish a European framework to facilitate sustainable investments by providing transparency obligations in the legal documentation of funds. In particular, it defines three categories of investment products:

  • products that simply integrate the concept of sustainability risks (so-called “Article 6” or “Article 7” products);
  • products that promote environmental and/or social characteristics (so-called “Article 8” products) and;
  • products that have sustainable investment as their objective (so-called “Article 9” products).

Since its creation, Birdee has always been concerned about adopting an investment strategy aimed at promoting sustainable financing. The management service offered by Birdee is thus based on the use of exchange traded funds (ETFs) selected with attention to the “responsible” criterion.

Sustainable financing refers to the process for consideration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations in investment decisions. More specifically, environmental considerations include in particular various issues such as the mitigation of climate change, the preservation of biodiversity, the prevention of pollution and the circular economy. Social considerations concern the issues of inequality, inclusion, labour relations, investment in human capital and communities, as well as human rights issues.

In order to act in the best interests of our clients, our management team’s diligence and research process features the continuous screening of the SFDR attributes of the selected ETFs.

Birdee considers any ETF eligible under Article 8 or Article 9 of the SFDR Regulation to be a responsible investment.

Birdee’s investment strategy is continuously evolving and the coverage of responsible assets tends to increase as these products are developed and become available. Prior to the entry into force of the SFDR Regulation, Birdee was already selecting its ETFs on the basis of the French ISR and/or Belgian Towards Sustainability (Febelfin) label. Today, Birdee is able to select its ETFs objectively thanks to the SFDR taxonomy (Article 6, 7, 8, 9). Birdee will soon be able to maximise its coverage of Article 9 ETFs as they become increasingly available.