Belgium takes the lead in sustainable investments for a wide audience
2 March 2020 - 4 min Reading time
On March 2, 2020, Towards Sustainability, the Belgian label for sustainable and socially responsible financial products, announced the list of new labeled products on its website. With 410 investment, insurance, and savings products—311 awarded in November 2019 and 99 in February 2020—Towards Sustainability has the most comprehensive label in terms of product offerings in the EU.
According to the French sustainable finance portal Novethic, Towards Sustainability is also the largest in terms of assets under management. Internationally, more than 175 billion EUR is managed according to the requirements of the Towards Sustainability quality standard. Over 50 billion of that comes from Belgian savers and investors. Not only quantitatively but also qualitatively,
Towards Sustainability scores well. A study by Novethic places Towards Sustainability on the stricter side of the spectrum of European sustainable financial labels.
Broadly supported
Thanks to the support of Febelfin, it was clear from the launch in November 2019 that Towards Sustainability is a label widely supported by the sector. With over 60 asset managers, banks, and insurance companies on board, the majority of the Belgian financial market is now covered.
It should be noted that the products that bear the Towards Sustainability label are by no means exclusively Belgian. Approximately 25% are offered by mainly Belgian producers. The other products come from players in other EU countries. From a product perspective, 60% of the approved products are specifically targeted at the Belgian market. The remaining 40% have a more European or international character. In other words, there is a wide range of sustainable options for every type of investor
“Febelfin and its members are convinced of the importance of clarity, coherence, and ambition in making the financial sector more sustainable. The Towards Sustainability initiative contributes to this in a concrete way. It is a step in a joint journey in which we are happy to involve all types of institutions and all types of investors."
Meer duidelijkheid
Clarity for individual investors remains one of the key drivers of the label. When a financial product carries the Towards Sustainability label, investors can trust that it meets a set of well-defined minimum sustainability criteria. There are also sustainable investment products on the market that do not bear the label, which could lead to confusion among non-professional investors.
To avoid this, several financial institutions are committing to include only products that have received the label in their sustainable Belgian offerings. The first of these signatories can be found on www.towardssustainability.be. Other institutions will join in the future.
The future
Towards Sustainability continues to evolve, keeping its objectives and the relevant European framework in mind. Towards Sustainability aims to mainstream sustainability principles in all financial products and contribute to the structural integration of sustainability in all financing decisions of the financial sector.
All of this is in line with future European regulations on information disclosure and the taxonomy on sustainability. The Towards Sustainability quality standard will be evaluated every two years. The first and current version was published in February 2019. The next revisions will be published in January 2021 and January 2023.
