Amundi - Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2015

Act as a responsible financial institution Promoting responsible finance

A FORMALISED ENGAGEMENT POLICY

2.1.2

Voting campaign

2014

2015

2.1.2.1 Engagement for influence Amundi has a policy committing it to influence specific issues, helping companies move towards better practices. The issues introduced in 2013 and 2014 and continued in 2015 deal with: p compliance of minerals from conflict areas, for the electronics sector; p responsible lobbying practices of pharmaceuticals groups and of the automotive industry; p respect for human rights in the mining and petroleum industries; p access to nutrition and countering food waste in the agrifoods and retail sectors. Besides these, we support international collective shareholder initiatives (see Section 1.3.3.) The objective is to encourage government authorities to provide incentives and companies to improve their practices. Amundi sent over 200 European issuers a brochure explaining its SRI approach, its transparent and dialogue-based analysis and ratings system, and the reasons behind its social commitment policy. This brochure is part of the dialogue process that characterises Amundi’s ESG analysis. Starting in 1999 we have adopted our own voting policy, updated yearly, that incorporates environmental and social criteria. We exercise our voting rights in the General Shareholders’ Meetings of the companies our portfolios have invested in. The shareholder dialogue consists of regular, constructive discussions with companies where we have the heaviest investment, highlighting our desires as a responsible investor in regard to the topics presented at the General Shareholders’ Meetings. It is structured around a formalised system ( e.g. , pre-alerts before the General Shareholders’ Meetings) and enables greater transparency, additional commitments, and changes to, or even the discontinuation of, some of the Company’s practices. Our voting policy (1) meets a three-fold objective: protect the interest of shareholders, formalise and make public our desires in terms of governance so as to facilitate dialogue with the companies and contribute to the effectiveness of corporate governance as a whole and thus to the efficiency of the markets. 2.1.2.2 Voting at General Shareholders’ Meetings and the pre-meeting dialogue

Meetings dealt with Resolutions dealt with

2,576

2,565

31,237 32,396

2.1.2.3 Data collection for rating purposes To refine the ratings given by the ESG analysis, the extra-financial analysts meet with companies throughout the year. These are selected based on the fraction of equity owned by Amundi and the relative size of the holding in the portfolios or in the benchmark indexes. In 2105, Amundi’s extra-financial analysts met with 274 companies and 93 senior managements. Measuring the quality of ESG policies is a prerequisite to measuring the issuer’s progress in terms of our engagement to having an influence. In the 2015 shareholder voting season there arose a debate about the promotion of long-term investing and the dangers of a short-term outlook. Two approaches emerged from this debate: p the first is to compensate buy-and-hold investors through specific mechanisms. Trends in this direction include the Florange Law in France, the “competitiveness” decree in Italy, Toyota’s AA shares in Japan and the debate in Hong Kong about multiple classes of stock after the Alibaba initial public offering; p the second approach is that of making investors more socially responsible as can be seen in the development of stewardship codes or in draft amendments to the EU’s shareholder rights directive. Although these two options have sometimes been opposed to each other, Amundi believes that as a practical matter they are compatible and has altered its voting policy accordingly. The various ways of introducing the loyalty mechanisms on which Amundi took a position in its votes have been studied on a case-by-case basis as regards the need for shareholder stability to create long-term value and the risks of disproportionate control to the detriment of minority shareholders. As to the social responsibility of investors, Amundi remains convinced that the educated exercise of voting rights, together with constructive dialogue on improving practices, will contribute to the long-term success of the companies in which it invests. The quality of the conversations held in 2015 tends to confirm the validity of this commitment. 2.1.2.4 Significant events of 2015 in terms of engagement

(1) A report on voting rights exercised and shareholder discussions, updated half-yearly, is available on the Amundi website (www.amundi.com).

AMUNDI — 2015 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT

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