Responsible investment offer
Our responsible investment offer
Learn about our approach and our responsible investment (RI) product lineup.
What is responsible investing?
Responsible investing means taking environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into account when selecting and managing investments, in addition to traditional financial analysis. By doing this, we favour companies that contribute to sustainable development.
Why choose RI?
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Positive social and environmental impacts
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Attractive return potential
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Support for businesses with responsible practices
Our responsible investment products
Having a hand in growing a responsible, sustainable economy is part of our values. We've been fine tuning our responsible investment offer for 30+ years to provide you with choices that stay true to who you are. Here's our range of diversified RI products designed to help you achieve your goals.
SocieTerra Funds and Portfolios
You can grow your money with responsible investment funds that combine good return potential with concrete impact on the environment and communities.
- 21 funds and 6 portfolios
- Multiple RI strategies used to select companies and encourage them to improve their ESG practices
- Eligible under most plans (RRSP, TFSA, RRIF, LIRA, LIF, RLSP, Group RRSP, etc.) and non-registered accounts
- Risk profile: Low to moderate
Learn more about SocieTerra Funds and Portfolios
Market-linked guaranteed investments – responsible options
Tap into stock market growth potential without risking your money by monitoring the performance of businesses that have been carefully selected for their ESG commitment.
- 2 portfolios and 2 thematic investments
- Eligible under most plans (TFSA, RRSP, FTA, LIRA, locked-in RRSP, RRIF, LIF and RDSP) and non-registered accounts
- The money you invest is 100% guaranteed at maturity
- Risk profile: Low
Learn more about market-linked guaranteed investments – responsible options
Guaranteed investment funds – RI Helios2 Contract
You can grow your savings with responsible investment funds, but with additional protection.
- 6 SocieTerra Portfolios
- Multiple RI strategies used to select companies and encourage them to improve their ESG practices
- Eligible under most plans (RRSP, TFSA, RRIF, LIRA, LIF) and non-registered accounts
- Choice of 3 guarantees to protect your savings or your estate
Learn more about guaranteed investment fund portfolios under the RI Helios2 Contract
Responsible annuities
Get a responsible annuity and receive a regular income for a set period of time or until death.
- Responsible investment approach in managing premiums that we're entrusted with
- Annuity can be combined with a registered retirement income fund (RRIF) or a life income fund (LIF)
- Fixed return for the duration of the payment period
- Index option where retirement income can be adjusted annually
Learn more about responsible annuities
Environmental, social and governance criteria
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria bring together a set of issues to which companies are potentially exposed.
We favour companies that respect the environment through concrete and durable policies and measures.
These include policies that:
- Fight against climate change
- Protect forests and biodiversity
- Reduce greenhouse gases
We favour companies that are involved in their communities and treat all their workers fairly.
These include companies that:
- Respect and protect the rights of children
- Respect the rights of workers
- Provide healthcare, food security and education
We select companies that have healthy management practices.
These practices might include:
- Diversity on boards of directors
- Fair compensation for management (incentives and bonuses)
4 reasons to choose responsible investment
Return potentials that are just as good
In the long run, the return potentials of RI are just as good, and sometimes better, than those of traditional investments. You can invest without sacrificing returns while staying true to your values.
Better risk management
Companies that value ESG criteria are better equipped to manage risk, which potentially increases returns.
Products that create a real positive impact
Choosing to invest in one of our responsible investment products allows selected companies to make positive impacts on the community and environment.
For example, based on an estimated investment of CAN$10 million in 2020, companies that Desjardins SocieTerra Positive Change Fund invested in contributed to:
Learn more about the positive impacts of SocieTerra products
See the Desjardins Funds Annual Report on Responsible Investment
- Whelan, Tensie et al. “ESG and Financial Performance: Uncovering the Relationship by Aggregating Evidence from 1,000 Plus Studies Published between 2015-2020.” NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business and Rockefeller Asset Management, 2021.
- See the Responsible Investment Policy for more information.
- Automatic or semi-automatic firearms intended for civilian use.
- Does not apply to market-linked guaranteed investments – responsible options
- Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited. Contributions are based on the full-year impact of portfolio holdings as at December 31, 2020. For those holdings that have been in the portfolio for less than the full year, no attempt has been made to pro-rate the contribution. However, as we have a long time horizon and aim to invest in our holdings for 5-10 years or longer, portfolio turnover will be low. Headline Impact Data, while providing an indication of the impact of the portfolio, is vulnerable to inconsistencies. This may be due to underlying assumptions. How companies measure and report is not always uniform and, in some cases, requires conversion to allow for aggregation across the portfolio. Where information is not available, we do not include a company's contribution within the Headline Impact Data snapshot. In time, we hope to be able to encourage companies to increase their reporting. Data for CO2e saved is based on company reporting which is either in CO2 or CO2e; the aggregate data is presented as CO2e as this is the most conservative approach. Data related to healthcare, prevention and disease expenses are up to date, covering multiple years.
- Learn more about calculating the CO2 emissions of a car with annual kilometrage of 20,000 km by viewing the 2021 Fuel Consumption Guide.
- Learn more about the average water consumption in Canadian households by reading this McGill University article.
- Source: Baillie Guifford Overseas Limited, 2020.