Responsible investments

Generating sustainable returns

Over the years, BCE has delivered a measure of growth and steady income
to investors.

Generating sustainable returns

Over the years, BCE has delivered a measure of growth and steady income to investors.

We believe that our financial performance is partly linked to environmental and social responsibility - that by attempting to reconcile economic, environmental and social objectives, we minimize risks, and in many instances realize significant gains.

BCE Sustainable Financing Framework

Consistent with the outstanding levels of corporate responsibility that we continually seek to achieve, BCE Inc. has developed a Sustainable Financing Framework guiding the issuance, by Bell Canada, of green, social or sustainability bonds as well as other Bell Canada sustainable financings such as loans.

To find out more about BCE’s, Sustainable Financing Framework and how it outlines eligible use of proceeds, the project selection and evaluation process, the management of proceeds and reporting please visit the Sustainable Financing Framework page on our website.

Business opportunities

By accelerating the dematerialization of products to services or reducing the need to travel, telecommunications help reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. As more consumers and businesses turn to sustainable choices, our e-solutions, especially new broadband products, have the potential to generate significant revenues. E-solutions are also attractive in that they reduce meeting and travel costs, while increasing productivity through better time management.

Rankings

More and more financial analysts and shareholders believe in the intrinsic value and business opportunities of a sustainable approach. Our performance in this area has been recognized by some of the world's leading sustainable investment analysts. BCE is a component of several sustainability indexes including:

Global Compact 100 Index

BCE is a Global Compact 100 Index constituent. This index is composed of a representative group of Global Compact companies, selected based on implementation of the ten principles and evidence of executive leadership commitment and consistent base-line profitability. This stock index, announced ahead of the Global Compact Leaders Summit 2013 showed total investment return of 21.8 percent by the end of its first year, surpassing the S&P global mid and large-cap benchmark over this period.

FTSE4Good Global Index

BCE is part of the FTSE4Good Global Index, an innovative series of real-time indices designed to reflect the performance of socially responsible equities. The series, created and managed by global index provider FTSE Group, covers four markets: UK, Europe, US and Global. Four tradable and four benchmark indices make up the FTSE4Good index series. A committee of independent practitioners in socially responsible investment, (S R I) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) review the indices to ensure that they are an accurate reflection of current CSR best practice.

Jantzi Social Index (JSI)

BCE is a member of the JSI, a socially screened, market capitalization-weighted common stock index modeled on the S&P/TSX 60. It consists of 60 Canadian companies that pass a set of broadly based environmental, social, and governance rating criteria. Data for the JSI is gathered by Jantzi Research Inc, an independent investment research firm that evaluates and monitors the environmental, social, and governance performance of securities.

Oekom Research

Oekom Research rates BCE as Prime, qualifying our bonds and shares for ecologically and socially based investment. Oekom is an independent rating agency that provides in-depth information on the environmental and social performance of companies, sectors and states. They cover over 750 international large & mid-cap companies to identify Corporate Responsibility Leaders.

Ethibel Sustainability Index

BCE is part of the Ethibel Sustainability Index. The index is composed of a basket of shares included in the Investment Register. The ESI provides an excellent instrument to measure and compare the financial performance of sustainable investments with traditional investments.

Vigeo Eiris’ indices

BCE is part of the Vigeo Eiris’ indices. These indices are composed of the highest-ranking listed companies as evaluated by the agency in terms of their performance in corporate responsibility. This range of indices: Euronext Vigeo World one hundred twenty, Euronext Vigeo Europe 120, Euronext Vigeo Eurozone 120, Euronext Vigeo US 50, Euronext Vigeo France 20, Euronext Vigeo United Kingdom 20 and Euronext Vigeo Benelux 20, will be updated every six months. Constituent selection is based on data from the Equitics® methodology, developed by Vigeo. Selected companies have achieved the highest ratings in their reference universe.

STOXX® ESG Leaders indices

BCE is part of the STOXX® ESG Leaders indices. These are a group of sustainability indices based on a fully transparent and rules-based selection process. These indices can help investors integrate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) research into their portfolios and offer them a view that conventional research might not uncover. STOXX's partner in the ESG space is Sustainalytics, a leading global provider of ESG research and analysis with nearly 20 years of experience in the responsible investment (RI) and socially responsible investment (SRI) markets.