PASS ON OUTILSPA RESLSA OTINONNELS Shareholding meets the expectations of young adults Patrick Renard, and thus is the foundation of its long- when it targets meaningful business pro- Director of Air Liquide term strategy. To be able to take care of jects that inspire them. Education is key, Shareholder Services individual shareholders, we have kept and companies have their role to play. all facets of the securities side of the What recent developments business and the corresponding expert- What is Air Liquide doing to meet the in France are seen as favorable ise with a 28-member Shareholder expectations of young workers who toward individual shareholding? Services department. save but do not invest in companies? The number of individual shareholders Concretely, this enables our share- The study revealed that they have a has plummeted from 7 million to a little holders to open securities accounts different vision of shareholding: first, more than 3 million in a few years, even directly with Air Liquide. To provide they look for a human and technologic- though this investment meets the long- our shareholders with the best possible al adventure. So we are adapting our term objectives of a lot of investors: real support in issues related to donation initiatives and messages to show them estate purchase, retirement preparation, and inheritance, we have also formed that investment in shares meets their inheritance, etc. However, attitudes a partnership with the Monassier notary expectations in this way. For example, we are changing: a desire to participate in group. In addition we meet with share- value innovative projects in areas such as funding the real economy and promote holders in meetings in France or at hydrogen energy, related to clean trans- entrepreneurship, to take sustainable special events such as the Actionaria portation. At the same time, we also rely development and ethics into account, Fair, and we work with students from an on existing shareholders, who are our to research the meaning behind the educational standpoint. Lastly, we best advocates, and encourage them investments. For the past few months, participate in collective initiatives to to pass on to their family their belief in this mainstream trend has been accomp- promote and defend individual share- share ownership and their attachment anied by a political and tax backdrop holding within organizations such as to the Group. (a) (b) (c) in France that aims to promote secur- ANSA , OAA , or F2iC . ities, which reflects the government’s realization of the necessity to redirect How do young people see French people’s savings toward corpo- the stock market today? rate financing. Overall, younger generations suffer from a lack of information and poor image of Air Liquide is committed to long- the stock market. What is ironic is that term shareholding. What does that they save regularly, but on products (a) Association Nationale des Sociétés par Actions mean in concrete terms? with low yields and no risk, even though (National Association of Listed Companies) (b) Observatoire des Actionnaires d’Avenir Air Liquide is particularly committed to they are ready to take risks, as shown in (Observatory for Shareholders of the Future) long-term shareholding because it is a Air Liquide/Actionaria’s 2017 study. Just (c) Fédération des Investisseurs Individuels et des Clubs d’investissement (Federation of Individual Investors and guarantee of independence, of stability, look at their attraction to crowdfunding Investment Clubs) 62 63