What is the Finansol label?
The Finansol label was created in 1997 by the Finansol association, with the aim of distinguishing financial products dedicated to solidarity savings. Its aim is to guarantee savers that their money is being used to finance projects with a strong social and environmental impact, such as work integration, social housing or sustainable development. Since its creation, the label has evolved, tightening its criteria over the years to ensure greater transparency and ethical commitment in fund management. Today, it has become a benchmark for identifying solidarity-based financial products, particularly in the context of responsible finance in France.
Finansol's role
The mission of the Finansol association is to promote solidarity finance and manage the Finansol label. This label is the only certification that guarantees the solidarity nature of a financial investment. It assures savers that their investments support projects with a social or environmental impact.
Criteria for obtaining the label
To obtain the Finansol label, a financial investment must meet strict criteria. Firstly, it must be socially responsible, i.e. finance projects of social or environmental benefit, or enable regular donations to associations, with a minimum of 25% of interest allocated to such donations. Next, transparency is essential: fund managers must provide full and regular information to savers on the use of their money. Last but not least, a clear marketing strategy is required, with product development objectives and an annual promotional campaign.
Process for obtaining the Finansol label
For a financial product to be awarded the Finansol label, the company offering it must first become a member of the Finansol association. It then submits an application file, which is examined by the Label Committee. If the product meets the criteria, it is awarded the label, but this is not permanent: an annual check is carried out to ensure that the product continues to meet the requirements in terms of solidarity and transparency.
What is solidarity finance?
Solidarity finance enables savers to invest in socially and environmentally useful projects.
It encompasses various fields of action, such as economic integration through the creation of businesses for people in precarious situations, social housing through the construction and renovation of homes for people in difficulty, ecology, with initiatives in favor of organic farming and renewable energies, and entrepreneurship in developing countries, notably through microcredit and fair trade.
Difference with Socially Responsible Investment (SRI)
Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) focuses on ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria for listed companies. Solidarity finance, on the other hand, is characterized by a stronger commitment, with financing specifically directed towards unlisted projects. These projects aim to combat social exclusion and promote sustainable development.
Investments eligible for the Finansol label
The Finansol label applies to several types of financial product. These include UCIs (Undertakings for Collective Investment), such as FCPs (Fonds Commun de Placement) and SICAVs (Sociétés d'Investissement à Capital Variable), life insurance contracts, debt securities such as bonds or treasury bills, and bank products such as passbooks and term accounts. It also covers other securities, such as capital shares and associated current accounts.
Advantages of a Finansol-labelled product
A Finansol-labeled financial product offers several advantages. Firstly, it benefits from greater visibility thanks to the Finansol logo, which distinguishes solidarity products from other investments. Secondly, it inspires confidence among savers, who know that their money is funding projects with a strong social or environmental purpose, whether in the fields of employment, housing or ecology. What's more, an annual check is carried out to ensure that the product continues to meet the label's criteria.
Support from Finansol
Finansol supports solidarity finance by organizing awareness-raising campaigns such as Solidarity Finance Week.
These initiatives aim to promote solidarity finance to the general public. The association also lobbies public authorities to create a legislative and regulatory framework conducive to the development of solidarity finance in France.
The Finansol label is an essential benchmark for savers wishing to combine financial performance with social or environmental impact. Thanks to demanding criteria in terms of solidarity and transparency, this label guarantees that investments bearing the Finansol label make a concrete contribution to socially useful projects. By raising the profile of solidarity-based financial products, Finansol plays a key role in the development of more ethical and responsible finance, accessible to all. Each year, the association also publishes the "baromètre de la finance solidaire", a benchmark tool that measures and analyzes the evolution of assets under management and projects financed by these savings. The barometer bears witness to the growing dynamism of solidarity finance, and provides a better understanding of the real impact of solidarity investments on society.
