Grupo Catalana Occidente's fund manager modifies its investment policy to promote sustainable environmental and social principles

Grupo Catalana Occidente's investment fund manager, GCO Gestión de Activos, has modified the investment policy of all its funds to apply Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) criteria, meaning its investments will be guided by sustainable and financial principles.

After the amendment, all funds will promote environmental or social characteristics in the selection of its financial assets, complying with Article 8 of Regulation 2019/2088 of the European Union on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector. Specifically, the new investment policies of Grupo Catalana Occidente funds promote environmental characteristics focused on decarbonisation, through the reduction of greenhouse emissions, as well as efficiency in the use of energy resources and in the emission and management of waste. They also promote social characteristics, including the protection of human rights, health and safety at work and ethics in business. All of this is done through positive screening, selecting companies with a better sustainable rating, and also negative screening, applying exclusion criteria for certain economic activities and regulatory breaches.

The different investment funds will remain in the same categories as they held to date, covering a wide range of investment options and offering the possibility of diversifying the assets in both fixed-income and equity assets in national and international markets.

Grupo Catalana Occidente is also working to shortly start promoting environmental or social characteristics in the selection of financial assets in its range of unit linked, pension plans and EPSV (voluntary pension plan providers).

Commitment to sustainability

These new additions coincide with Grupo Catalana Occidente's strategic commitment to the best corporate governance and sustainability practices and to contributing to social and economic development, respecting human rights and the environment. In turn, they respond to the European Action Plan set out in the EU's European Green Deal, which aims to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050 and to finance sustainable development.

In the words of the Deputy CEO and Head of Investments at Grupo Catalana Occidente, Elena Nabal, "the financial sector plays a fundamental role in the achievement of the European objective of being climate-neutral by 2050, channelling its investments towards environmentally friendly products and services, as well as Integrating sustainability into risk management processes and business strategies."

About GCO Gestión de Activos

GCO Gestión de Activos has a diversified range of fixed-income, variable or mixed investment funds, which allows it to offer its customers a product adapted to their profile, depending on the risk they want to assume, their savings goal and their investment capacity.