menu
search

Unédic ASSEO

Industrials, supporting the re-integration of jobseekers into the labour market in France.

1399024373

First bought

June 2020.

Why do we own it?

At the height of the pandemic in 2020, Unédic adapted quickly to support those in need, issuing what was then the largest social bond worldwide to deal with the adverse impact of COVID19 on employment.1 Moreover, a sizeable portion of the agency’s social bonds is allocated to furloughing, which allows companies to temporarily suspend workers from their jobs if needed and provide them with a percentage of their gross hourly pay. In this way, eight million jobs were protected over 2020 and 2021, 70% of which were in small- and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 50 employees.2 The agency also provides training to help the unemployed acquire new skills.

Competitive advantage – impact

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of unemployment insurance as a tool to manage the impact of economic volatility and mitigate the negative consequences of job loss for individuals and communities. Unédic provides detailed and transparent reporting, including breakdowns by gender, age, qualification and industry of former employment. We believe Unédic’s bonds support both our financial and impact goals. From an impact perspective, we see a close alignment with our ‘Education and Job Training’ theme given the agency’s social mission, which is to provide protection against the socio-economic uncertainties of the labour market and to assist qualifying individuals in finding or returning to work. From an investment standpoint, we favour the quality and liquidity of the bonds, reflecting the creditworthiness of the issuer and its guarantor. In addition, the bonds typically offer a yield premium over the French government bonds of the same maturity, furthering the positive investment case.

Key points

  • Through its social bonds, Unédic allocated €27 billion to support the unemployed in 2020 and 2021.
  • Unédic supported 2.6 million recipients of unemployment insurance in 2022.
  • In April 2023, Unédic successfully issued a €1 billion social bond.4