Currently chairman of the board of AGICAM, the French pensions-owned mutual asset management company, and head of the management board of AG2R, the multi-employer innovative pension fund that founded AGICAM in the first place specifi¬cally to run its multi-billion asset base, Philippe Dutertre has spent more or less his entire working life in institutional asset management, with roles as both investment manager and consultant adorning his impressive CV, which boasts degrees and diplomas in various forms from L’École des Hautes Études Commerciales, Université Paris Dauphine and L’Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris.

 

Understanding AG2R’s approach, what it has been up to recently and how it has become a leading SRI/ESG investor among Europe’s pension funds in a very short space of time gives a clearer picture of who Dutertre is, what he stands for and why he is a leading light in Europe’s ever-evolving pension scheme sector. The mission driving AG2R’s business plan is quite simple: it seeks to increase and implement the fundamental structure to sustain a high-quality suite of products and services to enhance the social and pensions provision of the members in the various plans and employers making up this influential multi-employer mutual pensions company. 

 

With Dutertre at its helm, AG2R has clearly dem¬onstrated its commitment in the past five years or so towards developing and fully integrating an SRI/ ESG approach to its investments. This is reflected in the wealth of guides and values it formally subscribes to, such as the UN Global Compact, and the diversity charter. This commitment goes way beyond any simple financial integration. AG2R aims equally to become a leading provider of SRI and a major contributor to its development and dissemination. 

 

AGICAM, the specialist pensions mutual asset management company that AG2R created and owns outright, manages the operational side of achiev¬ing this ambition. The rise of AG2R AGICAM’s SRI assets from €700m in late 2009 to €1.45bn at the end of June this year reflects how the fund has methodically rolled out its SRI/ESG framework to all asset classes and management strategies – both direct management and multi management – and all the areas in which it operates: institutional asset management and occupational pensions and savings. 

 

This is further reflected in the design and imple¬mentation of initiatives by AGICAM which serve as a witness of AG2R’s commitment to SRI, its SRI market share and the SRI/ESG evolution within its own investments. These innovative and dedicated steps include: 

To help it achieve its ambitions, AG2R AGICAM thus initiated the following practical applications: 

These measures enhance AG2R AGICAM’s role as a major actor on the SRI stage, playing a leading role in the dissemination of SRI in Europe’s pension scheme industry. This is just a brief outline of the great effort Dutertre puts into his role. Overall, his work at AG2R AGICAM and elsewhere has propelled him to become one of Europe’s most respected sen¬ior pension fund figures and IPE was more than proud to honour him with the first ever Award for Pension Fund Personality of The Year.