According to data from the French Association of Real Estate Investment Companies (Aspim), SRI-labelled real estate funds accounted for 35% of the market’s total net assets at the end of the first quarter of 2023 (estimated at more than 216 billion euros). end of 2022).
Aspim reports that out of a total of 936 funds (including media reserved for institutional investors), 108 had French standards as of March 31. Of these 108 funds, nearly half (47) are SCPIs (for €46.67 billion in capitalization), twenty are OPPCIs (professional organizations for collective real estate investment) and thirteen are general public OPCIs (for €18.45 billion capitalization).
A dozen real estate funds obtained this label in the 1st quarter: nine SCPIs* and one SCI (Allianz Immobilier Durable).
When compared to retail inflows, this share is even greater, with SRI-labelled retail funds representing 47% of net inflows and 51% of the overall capitalization of retail unlisted real estate funds in the first quarter of 2023.
Data collection and reliability
SRI labeling became available later to real estate funds than to other financial media, but its enthusiasm was immediate: the issues of energy consumption and renovation quickly imposed themselves in the managers’ strategies, insofar as these requirements are already highly regulated by regulations (particularly for offices) and that they have become essential constituent elements in the valuation of their assets.
” The market is now gaining in maturity, particularly with regard to issues relating to carbon and biodiversity. However, the challenge of collecting and making reliable ESG data still remains, requiring the commitment of stakeholders.s” observed Loïs Moulas, Managing Director of the Sustainable Real Estate Observatory (OID) when publishing an Aspim/OID study on real estate funds and ESG, last October.
If more than 80% of funds in terms of assets today have an ESG strategy, ” however, the maturity relating to environmental and social themes remains uneven “, found this study.
” While the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions seems acquired and mastered, biodiversity is today the subject of discussions on the market, towards the definition of a common indicator. The integration of social issues, still little explored, whether at the level of assets but also of the territory, should be accentuated in the years to come. »
Few funds classified as “article 9”
For the most part (84%), SRI-labelled real estate funds are classified as “article 8” under the European regulations that came into force last year, a classification imposing only basic requirements, the portfolios falling under this classification to promote environmental, social and good governance characteristics. Stricter, the “article 9” classification, which requires funds to set sustainable investment objectives, concerns only 15% of labeled funds.
The SRI label is currently undergoing an overhaul aimed at strengthening the level of ESG requirements. Last April, the Label Committee in charge of this project presented proposals which should ultimately make it more difficult to obtain the standard.
Submitted for consultation in May, the proposals will be formally presented to the Ministry of the Economy this summer. The Committee hopes that the new version of the label can come into effect from the beginning of 2024 for new candidates for the repository, and a few months later for funds already referenced.
*Cristal Life, Atout Pierre Diversification, Lafitte Pierre, Interpierre Central Europe, PFO, Log In, Altixia Commerces, Epargne Pierre Europe, NCAP Continent.