| Invested through |
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|---|---|
| Asset Classes | Listed equity & Corporate bonds |
| Impact strategy | Impact Equities and Bonds |
| Bloomberg ticker | EL FP |
| ISIN code | FR0013516051 |
| Industry group | Healthcare equipment & services |
| Aligned with SDGs |
French EssilorLuxottica is one of the world's leading makers of ophthalmic lenses, frames and sunglasses for both wholesale and retail customers. The vertically integrated company offers lens technology (including the Varilux and Transitions brands), eyewear (Ray-Ban and Oakley, among other brands), and retail brands such as LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut. In all, EssilorLuxottica has over 150 major brands and approximately 18,000 retail stores. The company operates worldwide, but generates about half of its sales from North America. Essilor, the world’s largest lens manufacturer, merged with Luxottica, the world's largest eyewear maker, in 2018 to form EssilorLuxottica. The combined entity announced the acquisition of Grandvision in 2019 in a deal worth EUR 7.2 billion.
Investment rationale
By 2050, over 50% of the world's population is expected to suffer from myopia, a common eye disorder where vision at a distance is blurry. Increased screen time could increase the risk of developing myopia at a young age. For some, myopia can be so severe that it can lead to permanent vision impairment and blindness later in life. Good vision is a basic human right and key lever for global development, but globally one in three people do not have access to the vision care they need.
EssilorLuxottica aims to eliminate poor vision in a generation, by finding ways to reach the 2.7 billion people that suffer from uncorrected poor vision and the 6.2 billion that do not protect their eyes from harmful rays. Since 2013, the company has created sustainable access to vision care in developing communities at the base of the pyramid by establishing more than 19,000 vision care businesses, which corrected or protected the vision of 47 million people. The company raises awareness on the importance of vision protection, for example by aiding to draft the UN Resolution of Vision, and via it's co-founded nonprofit OneSight which provides free eye exams and eyeglasses to people in need. The company has a long history of innovation and leverages this capability to reduce its environmental impact, as demonstrated by development of the first bio-based acetate for glasses in the industry. Through partnerships the company is driving a more sustainable product portfolio for own operations and in the eyewear industry as a whole."