RSE
OUR VALUES AND OUR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (‘CSR’) UNDERTAKING TO SERVE YOUR NEEDS
- Offer public infrastructure, energy and energy performance asset classes that meet the challenges of tomorrow’s society to the benefit of mankind, even in this totally disrupted economic and financial environment.
- Atlante Gestion’s approach is to look for performance in a long-standing financial product that does not adopt a short-term view or seek immediate profit at the expense of future performance. Successful performance of a financial product cannot be obtained by taking a speculative position or from the hypothetical sale of an asset based on a short-term approach.
- Atlante Gestion’s actions comply with an Investment Charter and an ethical dimension (see below) that meet environmental and corporate social criteria.
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Our CSR procedure
[Corporate social responsibility (‘CSR’) is sustainable development applied to companies].
The Management Company incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in its operations and interactions with its stakeholders (investors, partners, providers).
The ESG analysis is carried out on all the phases of a project’s lifecycle that include:
- Project selection;
- Validation;
- Management;
- Disposal.
Our objectives:
- Contribute to lowering environmental impact.
- Add a corporate social dimension to our investor action and to the management of special-purpose vehicles (‘SPV’s).
- Retain internal talents and develop their skills and competencies.
- Abide by the principles of governance and transparency and the handling of conflicts of interest.
Partners are chosen based on criteria such as the fulfilment of ESG commitments, integration of SMBs and local players in the projects examined, compliance with payment schedules, etc.
With our employees:
- Promote hiring: at the end of 2015, the company had four young employees aged under 30, of which three were former trainees;
- Give high priority to equal opportunity and treatment for all employees;
- Give preference to participatory management of teams and individual employees.
- Contribute to a better alignment of interests between employees, managers and shareholders of the company: Atlante has been a signatory of the France Invest Charter on value sharing since May 2023.
On governance :
- Apply the principle of transparency to directors’ fees, especially regarding the variable portions;
- Set up mechanisms for internal control and handling of conflicts of interest – anti-money laundering and respect for business ethics.
Our business idea: as a management company, we consider that it is our duty to serve General Interest, to work towards common good, and to make investment meaningful.
Interview with
Monsieur Van Appelghem
ATLANTE GESTION'S CSR PROCEDURE:
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What is Atlante Gestion’s view of corporate social and environmental responsibility?
From the time it was founded, Atlante has chosen to operate in l’économie réelle mostly in the infrastructure and the energy sectors, fulfil its commitments sustainably, and offer assets with stable income and valuation to its investors. All of the projects of the company are aimed at meeting the challenges of tomorrow and adopt an approach that serves General Interest. Our business idea is aimed at making Humans our major focus in all our activities.
Don’t you think it has now become the standard practice for companies to take a position as regards CSR, because it is the thing to do and because regulatory constraints have become tougher, rather than out of real conviction?
Right from 2009, Atlante has taken a position on real assets and participated in various pioneer projects as regards environmental aspects in particular. Back in 2012, we participated in renovating about a hundred kindergarten schools for the city of Paris in connection with the Nov’Ecoles, project with the aim of achieving 30% energy savings compared to a benchmark year. This project, allowed us to tackle environmental and corporate social issues early on, as well as the structuring and arrangement of this type of project involving the renovation of public buildings, and we now fully control their impacts.
We have since participated in several public infrastructure renovation projects, such as ENS de Lyon, several school groups in the Sarthe region (Maine Collèges 72) or Université de Marseille’s Luminy site. This environmental dimension has been a part of Atlante since its inception; it is present in each of our operations and fits perfectly into our long-term strategy.
What are the major principles and charters of which Atlante Gestion is a signatory?
Many years ago, Atlante Gestion wrote its own Responsible Investment Charter to give an account to the two-fold dimension of its commitments – environmental and social. In this connection, we have created a specific investment evaluation grid and adapted all our procedures accordingly.
Atlante endeavours to initiate concrete discussions with its partners on the concept of the Sharing fund, where a portion of the Management company’s fees as well as of the investors would be used for the benefit of corporate social causes.
To translate its principles into concrete action, the company is a signatory to several agreements and notably in 2019, to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Charter initiated by the United Nations
Concretely, what are Atlante’s commitments as regards CSR?
Could you mention some actions you have conducted, as an example of your “green” commitments?
To begin with, Atlante’s corporate social and environmental commitments are illustrated in all of our infrastructures projects that are mostly small or medium-sized regional projects having a strong corporate social dimension.
Besides, based on our four-year long expertise with a large banking group that has become our partner in the EFFICEO project, we have participated in over a dozen energy efficiency financing operations in the agro-food industry and retail sectors. The EFFICEO project involves the forthcoming creation of a Debt Fund to finance these actions as part of the Green Transition and perfectly illustrates the environmental and corporate social direction that Atlante would like to take for its investments in the long term.
The second aspect relates to discussions on the work organisation of all of our employees. It is about implementing these corporate social principles to respect the person at work in all the differences they represent, respect human dignity, ensure equality of treatment of women and men, and be attentive to each one’s place within the company.
What are the next steps to strengthen Atlante’s ESG commitments?
What orientation would you like the company to take in this aspect?
As I mentioned earlier, our EFFICEO project is noteworthy as a tool for financing the Energy Transition with a strong focus ESC’s – Energy Savings Certificates – and local investment. It will be operational at the end of 2022.
Similarly, we are giving a new impetus to our operations in Local infrastructures at the service of territories, with new fund raising scheduled in 2022.
All of our Funds under management aim for an appropriate ESG label, GRESB or Greenfin as the case may be, and will be at least classified Article 8 under the SFDR – Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, in order to guarantee the sustainable orientation of our financing.
All in all, we are fully armed for and keenly aware of our responsibility as Management company in all the financing and investment solutions that we bring to the economy to make investment meaningful.