Yes, by definition, since the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment encourage investors to ‎display a commitment to acknowledge environmental, social and governance criteria.‎

Vigeo proposes a whole range of services and tools to the signatories of the PRI, enabling them to ‎define and deploy a process for responsible investment‎.

On 1 November 2010, the ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) published a ‎standard entitled “Guidance for social responsibility”. As with Vigeo’s methodology, the ‎definition of social responsibility adopted in the standard rests on the notion of “compliance with ‎international standards of behaviour”. Vigeo’s analytical methods are, therefore, fully compatible ‎with the ISO 26000 standard, the recommendations of which have already been embedded into ‎our rating framework.‎

The word "Vigeo" is derived from Latin and means: "being who is watchful and alert, who keeps his/her eyes open".

This Latin word has led to the English word "vigilance

No. Vigeo has two separate and secure information systems at its disposal.‎ 

The teams dedicated to SRI research (Vigeo rating) and to audits on social responsibility (Vigeo ‎enterprise) are clearly separated, as are their workplaces.‎ 

Less than 1% of the companies rated by Vigeo rating are clients of Vigeo enterprise.‎

The decision has been made to permit companies to act as shareholders, and we take responsibility for that decision. 

This decision was motivated by our desire for a pluralistic body of shareholders - companies, trade unions, NGOs, traders, etc. - thus reflecting the pluralist expectations and interests of the agency.

By associating themselves with Vigeo, these shareholders support the creation of a European extra-financial analysis agency which aims at the promotion of market standards through a production which combines professionalism, quality and R & D.

The theoretical potential conflict of interests is not ignored.

• In order to avoid conflict, Vigeo limits corporate participation to 2%. At present, the participation of each company is of 0.85%
• The Executive Board is composed of three Boards, with three members each, regardless of the level of capital contribution, and six independent Directors
• Finally, Vigeo has established a Scientific Board, composed of independent university academics and experts, contributing to the independence, professionalism and ethics of the company. The Scientific Board advises and guides the agency as regards its methodological approaches and ensures the respect of these measures in products created for clients.
   

The international institutions create norms in international law and recommendations for companies.

Vigeo has established its reference values on the basis of these norms and recommendations.

Internally, the collaborators and particularly the Information Department are attentive to the evolution of the standards and norms created by international organizations in order to adapt our frame of references if necessary.

The GRI does not constitute a framework for social responsibility targets, but provides a guide for ‎organising information related to social responsibility. Vigeo supports this initiative for ‎harmonising SRI information and indicators and for structuring ESG reporting.‎

Many international organizations (e.g. UN, ILT, OECD) have defined corporate standards in the form of recommendations, directing principles, declarations, etc. which refer to universally recognized principles, such as the ban of both forced and child labour, the fight against discrimination and the promotion of equal opportunities.

Vigeo has based its reference framework on these principles.‎

Learn more about the norms

In 1987, the Bruntland Report, named after the President of the World Commission on Environment and Development (and who was also the Prime Minister of Norway) defined "sustainable development" as follows:

"development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, and especially the most basic needs of the world's poor [...]."

The expression "sustainable development" was coined in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio.

SRI (socially responsible investment) designates a form of investment that acknowledges ‎environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria above and beyond traditional financial ‎criteria.‎

The investment universe is comprised of companies that have identified the social responsibility ‎issues that concern them and that strive to manage the associated risks.‎

SRI is the process of applying the principles of sustainable development to investment activities‎.

Learn more about SRI

Ethical investment draws on the philosophical, religious or morals beliefs of individual or ‎collective investors whose investment universes exclude those companies whose activity or ‎location run contrary to their beliefs. The most common form of ethical investment is reflected in ‎the selection of an investment universe that excludes companies involved, for example, in the ‎production of alcohol, tobacco, nuclear energy, gambling, pornography, etc.‎

Learn more about ethical investment

In the 21st century, companies are affected by issues which are not related to their economical performance, as for example the respect of human rights, human resources management, market behaviour, protection of the environment, corporate governance, and social commitment.

Factors such as these can alter a company's reputation, development and its attractiveness on the market if they are not controlled.

Vigeo defines corporate social responsibility as a managerial commitment according to which the rights, interests and expectations of the stakeholders are considered, and which aims at the continuous improvement of its performance and risk control.‎

Learn more about CSR

Yes, social responsibility concerns all companies. Multinationals are the most concerned because they are submitted to pressure from many sources. ‎

SMEs may also have good reasons to commit themselves to social responsibility, whether as a differentiating element from the competition, or in terms of communication. ‎

Furthermore, the general conditions of many multinationals now include social and environmental criteria. ‎

In this way, multinationals protect their reputation by including socially responsible criteria in their selection of subcontractors and suppliers. ‎

Yes. Territorial collectivities and administrations are increasingly confronted with sustainable development objectives in their management choices: UN (Rio Declaration, Millennium Declaration, Habitat II), European Union (Aalborg Charter) and national programmes such as "National Strategies of Sustainable Development". ‎

Territorial collectivities must respond to the demands of users and residents, socio-economic actors, the elected, and, of course, the development of both national and European legal frameworks. Many territorial collectivities establish action plans, mostly within the Agenda 21 framework.  ‎

Un engagement sur la durée, sur les objectifs de développement durable, se traduit pour les collectivités ‎territoriales par un avantage en matière de compétitivité et d’attractivité de la collectivité et du territoire. ‎

For territorial collectivities, a long-term commitment to sustainable development objectives represents a competitive and attractive advantage for the collectivity and the territory.

More information

Yes. The Ten Principles of the UN Global Impact select social responsibility targets that have been ‎recommended to companies, these targets being the result of conventions and international ‎standards, based on which Vigeo has built its benchmarking framework.‎ 

Vigeo rating has developed a specific product for investors that allows for the identification of ‎companies that comply or do not comply with the principles of the UN Global Impact.‎

A socially responsible investment policy can be implemented in a progressive and personalised ‎manner.‎ 

For example, it is possible to:‎

• invest all or part of a portfolio in SRI;
• manage assets actively or passively;
• use a turnkey formula (e.g. the Ethibel Range); and
• define a management approach based on proprietary criteria. ‎

According to the study on the European SRI market published by Eurosif in 2010, the Core SRI ‎market reached €1.2 trillion of assets at the end of 2009, covering both bond and equity asset ‎classes. According to the same study, the value of assets in overall investment strategies ‎integrating, in one way or another, certain ESG criteria into their practices (Broad SRI) totalled €5 ‎trillion at the end of 2009 (an 87% increase on 2007).

‎www.eurosif.org

Furthermore, a growing number of players in international finance are subscribing to the ‎Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in the firm belief that environmental, social and ‎governance risks are likely to have an influence on the value of their investments and that they ‎are duty-bound to acknowledge these risks in the exercise of their fiduciary responsibility.  This ‎initiative, which was launched in 2006, had brought together by the end of 2010 879 international ‎signatories from 45 countries representing more than 22 trillions $ of assets under management.

‎www.unpri.org

Various studies have concluded that incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) ‎criteria into investment decisions does not negatively impact return on assets. This has also been ‎noted in the performance of the ASPI Eurozone Index in keeping with the performance of its Euro ‎Stoxx 300 reference index over the last few years.‎
In the long term, integrating ESG analytical elements into portfolio management should ‎theoretically allow for better risk-adjusted performance insofar as such integration allows for a ‎better appreciation of the risks and opportunities associated with each investment.‎

Information is gathered from various sources, i.e.:‎

• from the company. In the first instance, analysts consult all publicly available documents ‎‎(annual report, sustainable development report, press releases) before systematically ‎contacting the company for further information.
• from stakeholders. Analysts rely on players and observers in the field, such as trade ‎unions, NGOs and international organisations, to cross-check the information received ‎from the companies.‎