
Dexia Asset Management, one of the pioneers of socially responsible investing (SRI) in Europe, is to be sold by its parent, the bailed out Franco-Belgian banking group Dexia.
Dexia said in a statement that the board has launched “an open and competitive procedure” to dispose of Dexia AM, which has some €18bn of SRI funds under management.
Dexia AM is a founding signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment and created its first SRI fund in 1996.
Parent Dexia will also look into selling its 50% stake in custody business RBC Dexia Investor Services and its 99.84% stake in Turkey-based DenizBank.Dexia Chief Executive Pierre Mariani was quoted by Les Echos as saying in interview that purchasers will be chosen by the end of the year, according to a Bloomberg report.
The statements emerged after a board meeting today at which Dexia completed agreements to sell its Belgian banking arm and French municipal-lending division to state-owned companies. It follows a period of uncertainty about the fate of the funds arm amid the wider fate of the stricken group.
Earlier this month, Dexia AM CEO Naim Abou-Jaoudé sought to reassure clients that it was “business as usual” and that assets were “fully segregated and protected”.
Dexia said it would go ahead with its third-quarter results statement on November 9 as planned.