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Quarter 1 2025: Our active stewardship illustrated

Published on
27 May 2025
Read time
1 minute(s) read

As a long-term investor, we engage in regular dialogue with the companies in which we invest to encourage them to improve their practices for taking environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into account. Find out how our active approach to stewardship was borne out in Q1 2025.

25
Engagements held
94%
of meetings voted in Q1 2025
56%
of meetings where Carmignac voted against management at least once*

*This data refers to the number of meetings where Carmignac took a vote position against the recommendation of the board. In practice, this refers to votes cast against management-led resolutions and, in most cases, votes cast for shareholder-led resolutions (unless the shareholder-led resolution is supported by management).

Carmignac is committed to aligning its dialogue strategy with five types of engagement: engagement on ESG ratings, thematic engagement, impact engagement, engagement on controversial behaviour, and engagement on proxy voting decisions.

In Q1 2025, we initiated dialogue with investee companies 25 times and across four types of engagement. No impact engagement was undertaken in Q1 2025.

Our engagements cover a full spectrum of environmental, social and governance topics. Engagements may be relevant to more than one category at the same time. The proportion of our engagements which had environmental, social and governance relevance in Q1 2025 was as follows.

In Q1 2025, Carmignac voted against the management of our investee companies at least once at 56% of meetings voted.

Find out how we specifically engaged with one of our investee companies in Q1 2025.

Adidas

Sector: Consumer Discretionary
Region: Germany

The company is an equity holding in our funds1.

  • Ask the company to conduct a thorough review of their product lines to identify any items that contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”).
  • Determine if the company have developed and implemented a plan to phase out the use of PFAS in the company’s products.
  • Communicate transparently with stakeholders about the company’s efforts to eliminate PFAS and the steps taken by the company to reduce the potential environmental harm of their products.

In March 2025, we met with the company’s Investor Relations representatives.

PFAS, often referred to as "forever chemicals," are a group of man-made chemicals that have been widely used in various industries, including consumer goods, due to their resistance to water, oil, and heat. These chemicals have been linked to significant environmental and health concerns. They persist in the environment and accumulate over time, posing risks to both human health and ecosystems.

As consumers become increasingly aware of the potential dangers associated with PFAS, there is a growing demand for products that are free from these harmful substances. There is also an increasing number of regulations looking to tackle PFAS in consumer products (e.g. California passed a law to phase out PFAS in apparel2 and the EU's partial ban on PFAS use in clothing3).

Therefore, we engaged with the company regarding the presence of PFAS in their products and supply chain, as well as their efforts to phase them out.

Without providing a timeline, the company said that they are have committed to be over 99% PFAS free in their products and they are working on eliminating the last 1% of PFAS from their products. The company do not view this to be an issue as they have a wide range of products and they believe they can easily find PFAS substitutes.
The company attribute their success to their strong commitment to sustainability and their willingness to work together with suppliers to eliminate PFAS is further evidence of this. However, whilst we note the company’s progress to date as positive, we would view the public disclosure of their planned timeline for the phase-out of PFAS from their products as best practice.

We will continue to review the company’s progress towards eliminating PFAS from their products.

As a result of the engagement we deemed that the START rating under the ‘Environmental’ Pillar is suitable to remain as A.

1As of 31st March 2025: Carmignac Absolute Return Europe, Carmignac Portfolio Evolution, Carmignac Portfolio Grandchildren, Carmignac Portfolio Grande Europe, Carmignac Portfolio Human Xperience, Carmignac Portfolio Patrimoine Europe, Carmignac Multi Expertise. 2https://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/2024/11/new-york-and-california-bans-on-pfas-in-textiles-and-apparel-begin-january-1-2025. 3European Commission introduces partial ban on PFAS use in clothing.

To find out more on our responsible investment philosophy, please visit our Sustainable Investment section:

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CARMIGNAC GESTION 24, place Vendôme - F-75001 Paris - Tél : (+33) 01 42 86 53 35 Investment management company approved by the AMF Public limited company with share capital of € 13,500,000 - RCS Paris B 349 501 676.

CARMIGNAC GESTION Luxembourg - City Link - 7, rue de la Chapelle - L-1325 Luxembourg - Tel : (+352) 46 70 60 1 Subsidiary of Carmignac Gestion - Investment fund management company approved by the CSSF Public limited company with share capital of € 23,000,000 - RCS Luxembourg B 67 549.