Fabio Vitale, Head of Wealth Planning & Sustainable Solutions at BNP Paribas Wealth Management in Monaco: Sustainable Finance and Philanthropy as Sustainable Welfare drivers to preserve the Ecosystem and make a Just Transition.
BIOGRAPHY
Fabio Vitale started his career in a business consulting firm in Italy. Then, after several years of experience as Manager in Deloitte Consulting, serving multinational corporate clients, he joined CFM Indosuez in Monaco as head of Corporate Finance Advisory Services, and then head of Wealth Planning Solutions for Southern Europe.
In 2010, Fabio Vitale became Head of Wealth Planning Solutions for BNP Paribas Wealth Management Monaco. In 2020, he set up the Sustainable Solutions Departmet. In 2022 and 2023, he was granted with the Euromoney Best ESG Investments in Monaco and in 2024 with Best Sustainability & Philanthropy Advisory Awards in Monaco,
Fabio Vitale has always been involved in philanthropic, solidarity and sustainability projects. He has been President & Co-founder of a Social Business Association in Monaco. He belonged to the Board of Directors of a Social Business Incubator in Italy and participated in several humanitarian missions, among others, in a microcredit project in Mali with Grameen Bank Credit Agricole Foundation.
In 2023, he was one of the co-founders of the 1st “Natural Capital Conference” in Monaco, in partnership with Centre Scientifique de Monaco (CSM) and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
This project stands out for offering solutions that increase biodiversity, adapt to climate change, and generate carbon sinks, boosting Blue and Socio-Economic growth.
So far, they are promoting the formation of a consortium of leading international experts in marine ecosystems, funded by the European Union COST Programme (European Cooperation in Science & Technology) aimed at providing funding addressed to researchers and innovators to set up interconnected, interdisciplinary, and collaborative research networks.
MONACŒCOART® was pleased to collect significant comments about Sustainable Finance and Philantrhopy as drivers to encourage a comprehensive Sustainable Welfare and Nature-Based Solutions.
🔸KEY TOPICS = 🗣️ KEY VALUES >> 🗣️ SUSTAINABLE WELFARE >> 🗣️ ADVANTAGES TO JOIN SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS >> 🗣️ PHILANTHROPY AND NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS >> 🗣️ EUROMONEY PRIVATE BANKING AWARDS 2024 >> 🗣️ RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PRINCIPALITY OF MONACO >> 🗣️ MEDIUM AND LONG-TERM GOALS IN THE FIELD OF SUSTAINABLE FINANCE
🎙INTERVIEW
MONACŒCOART®: What are the key values on which you base your consultancy activity? What ethical and environmental values are given priority and why?
🗣️ Fabio Vitale : Our activity is in line with the values of BNP Paribas. A strong ambition and requirement for social and environmental responsibility represents our greatest commitment. We are attentive to ethical issues, diversity and the promotion of human rights while respecting the different cultures of the countries in which we operate. Furthermore, we know how to respond to the deep expectations of change and new horizons of society. Being the bank of a changing world means supporting our customers more effectively, while contributing to a more sustainable and better shared growth.
Our company is currently facing new challenges related to a hyper-connected world, dominated by technology and strong inequalities. We do believe that we must create shared solutions to cope with the current climate emergency that requires redefining traditional models. We put our technological innovation, the expertise of our various businesses and our leadership at the service of today’s transition. Consequently, we want to play our own role in supporting the change to a sustainable economy and to improve people’s new expectations, pushing our customers towards a more environmentally friendly and inclusive model. Notably: individuals, professionals, businesses and institutions.
In terms of priorities, two phenomena require the greatest attention: the acceleration of climate change evolution and the programmed depletion of biodiversity. The risk is to destabilise the environment irreparably, with major impacts on living beings and an increase in the consequent exclusion phenomena. Preserving the planet and reducing inequalities are of vital importance. In this regard, the Bank has recently launched the JustINstitute initiative in cooperation with the World Bank’s Global Environment Facility (GEF) aiming at combining the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss with social and financial inclusion.
MONACŒCOART®: How would you define "Sustainable Welfare" from a financial point of view, based on your direct experience? Could economic growth boost the ecological transition? To what extent?
🗣️ Fabio Vitale : The idea of ‘Sustainability Welfare’ must be classified in the sphere of economic disciplines such as the economy of institutions and the political economy. In particular, it aims to analyse how the concept of sustainability evolves within the classical economic and institutional models in the light of new global challenges. These reflections have a direct impact on the choices of regulators as well as on the ambitions of governments and institutions in terms of climate policies. Finance, in fact, is willing to integrate these choices to translate them into investment decisions while identifying financing needs. These decisions are linked to the dynamics of markets and the real economy. The absence of economic growth, in fact, has an inevitable impact on financial performance.
The question is rather to identify the areas of investments on which we can build a sustainable growth. Recent economic initiatives at the European level (Green Deal) and in the United States (Build Back Better plan) have laid the foundation for sustainable economic development in the ecological ‘transition’. The latter is therefore a real driver of growth, more than a limit. Thus, it is considered as the basis of each action by economic actors such as banks.
MONACŒCOART®: What are the main advantages for your customers to join Sustainable Solutions and how to measure them? Did you notice an increase in eco-sensitivity among investors?
🗣️ Fabio Vitale : Clients can take advantage of benefits within the relationship between performance and socially responsible investments. This synergy is somewhat beneficial to an empirical exploration without necessarily having to consider one investment to be more responsible than the conventional one.
This correlation is based on a simple idea: a company with high ESG standards is theoretically able to better react to new environmental, regulatory, reputational and operational risks while improving its efficiency. This company should be able to capture opportunities related to the ongoing changes and to retain customers and talents with profitable results. With this in mind, when we look at the global risk matrix shown in Davos, at the Word Economic Forum (see Chart hereafter), we can quickly understand that a company, able to anticipate and control environmental risks over the next ten years, will have a higher chance of survival than a company with lower risk control.
As a result of all this, we see a growing interest in responsible investment products, especially with reference to customers of European origin. A further distinction can also be made at the intergenerational level. New generations are definitely more sensitive and attentive to environmental matters.
MONACŒCOART®: Philanthropy is increasingly an asset to enable scientific research and technology to move towards concrete "Nature-Based" solutions. What kind of customer chooses sustainable financing or investment plans? How to encourage customers to move towards more eco responsible solutions?
🗣️ Fabio Vitale : Of course, it is. Benefiting from the absence of regulatory constraints coming from institutional rules or further targets imposed by public bodies or companies, philanthropy can explore new ways of financing through the study of innovative solutions.
The ideal recipient of philanthropy varies case by case. Identifying the values and targets of each customer is the first step in identifying their approach. Then, each client needs personal support to help understanding the strategic, operational and financial aspects with respect to the field of interest. Customers are often driven by an emotional aspect. We must provide them with rational insight and technical solutions in order to lead them towards a clear pathway.
Today many entrepreneurs prefer a philanthropic approach inspired by finance, with special regard to private equity. We are talking about “Philentrepreneurs” (philanthropists-entrepreneurs), namely those who want to manage a specific philanthropic project through entrepreneurial methods, a way called “Venture Philanthropy”. In other words, they commit themselves financially while putting their skills and professional network to the benefit of the philanthropic causes. They are looking for efficiency and they generally assess the “social return on investment”. The young generation of entrepreneurs is particularly sensitive to the use of technologies and hybridised methods to find efficiency and global impact.
As for financing, we can now develop innovative tools such as the Blended Finance (1) to accelerate projects in favour of nature thanks to the presence of philanthropic actors. BNP Paribas has been acting as a pioneer within several financial projects based in developing countries, through public-private partnerships. The Global Fund of Coral Reefs (GFCR) project, of which BNP Paribas has been a major partner, alongside the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and other philanthropic institutions from the public and private sectors, is just one example. The GFCR aims at mobilising global private capital for coral reef protection, using a method to improve the investment capacity and financial resilience of Nature-Based Solutions.
(1) According to Convergence global network, Blended Finance is defined as the strategic use of development finance and philanthropic funds to mobilise private capital flows towards emerging markets, generating a positive outcome for investors and communities involved.
MONACŒCOART®: The BNP Paribas Group has been recently awarded “Best International Private Bank”, “Best for Sustainability” and “Best for Philanthropic Advisory in Monaco” at the Euromoney Private Banking Awards 2024. What is the added value that made it possible to achieve this winning result?
Does the economic and social ecosystem of the Principality of Monaco encourage the development of Sustainable Finance and innovation in the financial sector? What do you appreciate most about this special mention?
🗣️ Fabio Vitale : These acknowledgments reward our expertise in Philanthropy and Sustainable Finance. BNP Paribas Wealth Management Monaco created a dedicated department in 2008 to offer its clients a personalised advice in philanthropy and to assist them in defining a tailor-made roadmap towards their proprietary and philanthropic objectives.
We combine two holistic fields of expertise: estate planning advice and a sustainable approach to assist our clients in order to determine the ecosystem in which their philanthropic action can be developed, in line with their values. Our goal is to help them align their estate with their sustainable development beliefs.
Not by chance, a holistic vision of Sustainability is changing philanthropy. In the Principality, H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco has been defending the values of Sustainability since He became Head of State. We are therefore in an extremely favourable environment for philanthropy, with wealthy people wishing to give meaning to their actions, and the young generation taking over.
The Principality is acting as a market leader in the field of Sustainable Finance, and we are particularly proud to have contributed to increase Monaco’s reputation, since BNP Paribas Monaco got three awards at the Euromoney Awards last April in London.
MONACŒCOART®: What are your medium and long-term goals and actions in the field of Sustainable Finance?
🗣️ Fabio Vitale : BNP Paribas does believe in its credit portfolio alignment to finance a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. In order to support the economy in its transition towards low-carbon energy sources, the Banking Group is committed to significantly reduce the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions by lowering its financial support to the most emitting sectors. Furthermore, the 2023 commitment, originally setting a target of 80% low-carbon energy by 2030 for financing the whole Group’s energy production, was brought forward to 2028. The new target to be achieved by 2030 is now 90%.
BNP Paribas currently acts both for its financing and for investment portfolios, increasingly integrating climate risk factors into its in-house processes. Thus, BNP Paribas ambitious policy has further consolidated its leadership: at the end of September 2023, the Group’s stock of loans for low-carbon energy production was equal to 32 billion euros.
The BNP Paribas Wealth Management Monaco integrates these objectives locally and contributes to make the Principality a Pilot Country in the field of Sustainable Finance. Our commitment is mainly focused on our clients, to support them in their investments and financing plans thanks to our expertise in Sustainability. We also aim to identify specific actions addressed to our stakeholders and the local community. The recent Conference on «Natural Capital» we organised for the first time in November 2023 in Monaco, in partnership with the Centre Scientifique de Monaco (Monaco Scientific Centre) and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, is a great example of this. The event was meant to become an essential annual meeting about Biodiversity preservation and restoration and the assessment of Natural Capital.
The initial feedback from the scientific and financial communities as well as the participating audience and private institutions was very positive. All this reinforces our real commitment to preserve the ecosystem and make a just transition. ***
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By Maurice Abbati
Journalist; Editor; Communication, Media and Public Relations Specialist
Lecturer and Author in English language of Technical Articles and the Manual: "Communicating the Environment to Save the Planet, a Journey into Eco-Communication" by Springer International Publishing.
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