Specialist investment boutique La Financière Responsable (LFR) – recently partly acquired by the Spanish insurance group Mapfre – has been cited as one of the top five boutiques for its approach to company analysis by ESG consultancy EthiFinance.

The accolade represents an important recognition by EthiFinance that excellence in ESG in France is not just confined to the large asset management groups such as Netaxis’ Mirova or Amundi, but can also be found in smaller boutique managers such as LFR.

The new is also important for Mapfre which is leaning on LFR’s expertise in ESG company evaluation to help it manage funds such as its recently launched ESG focussed, ‘Capital Responsable’ fund.

EthiFinance is one of France’s premier non-financial ESG consultancies. Founded in 2004, the consultancy has been assisting investors and companies in their strategic management of ESG risks. Its recent findings came from its study of 206 small to mid-sized asset managers from the 650 strong GECO database – which is published by the French regulator, the AMF.

EthiFinance used 23 different factors within three pillars and scored the managers out of 100. The highest results were given jointly to La Financière Responsable as well as Mandarine Gestion who both scored 90/100. These were closely followed by Trusteam Finance and Roche Brune.

LFR chairman Olivier Johanet said: “We have always set out to be a specialist asset manager dedicated to applying rigorous analysis to the companies in which we invest, using strict ESG criteria.”

Mapfre’s head of investment management, Jose Luis Jimenez, said: “The approach LFR is taking in France, and the assistance it can provide to Mapfre, is central to our Responsible Investment Policy, our ESG approach, and the development of our asset management business.”

– This article first appeared on ESG Clarity‘s sister site Expert Investor.