Solidarity savings increased by 15% last year, according to a study by the Fair

Solidarity savings increased by 15% last year in France, bringing their total outstanding amount to 34 billion euros, according to a study published a few days ago by the daily newspaper La Croix and the Fair association.

"It's a good year," Patrick Sapy, director general of the Fair collective, which brings together the players in solidarity finance in France, told AFP.

Solidarity savings are growing "faster than the rest of savings in general," he continued, thanks to fresh, newly deposited money, but also to the increase in the value of existing investments.

"This also shows that socially responsible savings products are performing well," Mr. Sapy points out. "Socially responsible savings also pay off."

However, so-called solidarity savings remain a drop in the ocean compared to the approximately 6.600 trillion euros of financial assets held by the French, which are mainly invested in life insurance contracts or in regulated savings products, such as the Livret A.

In this sector, savers' money is invested in projects, associations or companies with a positive social or environmental impact (fighting exclusion or promoting renewable energies, for example).

It generated 16 million euros in donations last year, a record.

All three subscription channels – employee savings, bank savings and direct investment in social enterprises – saw growth last year.

Solidarity savings develop all the more easily when they are promoted by the institutions that market them, Mr. Sapy points out.

"Not all major banking networks have the same strategy for promoting" these products, he acknowledges.

Online banks are not very active, while players like MAIF, Crédit Coopératif or Crédit Mutuel are more proactive.

"Responsible" investment, which covers a broader field than solidarity savings, is declining in the portfolios of the French, according to a separate study published Wednesday by La Banque Postale (LBP).

"The obstacles to sustainable investment remain largely unchanged: low knowledge of products and their perceived complexity, as well as the difficulty in measuring their real sustainable impact," notes the study, carried out in the spring among 1.000 French people.