Our Responsibility as an Investor: Doing Well and Doing Good
With increased conversation around the importance of sustainable investing, and how it is certainly possible to do well while doing good, I wanted to share an overview with the community about Zurich’s approach. The link below includes several position whitepapers that provide details to our method, and a look at responsible investment KPIs and the impact of real estate investment: https://www.zurich.com/en/sustainability/responsible-investment.
Responsible investment is integral to our investment philosophy and approach. For us, it is about managing our assets of approximately USD 200 billion in a way that creates sustainable value - in other words, to do well and do good. When we do ‘well’, we generate superior risk-adjusted returns for our customers and shareholders and when we do ‘good' we have a positive impact on society and the communities where we live and work.
In November 2020, Zurich announced it has exceeded the original monetary target for its impact investment portfolio of USD 5bn, and from now on will prioritize the impact this portfolio generates. This follows the commitment made in 2017 to build a portfolio that avoids 5 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions annually, and improves the lives of 5 million people every year.
Over recent years, Zurich has developed a methodology to measure and aggregate impact across various asset classes. Measuring impact for various years has led to many lessons in how to measure and manage impact, specifically in how to interpret the impact intensities of various types of investments.
This knowledge now allows us to prioritize the targeted impact, allowing committed funds to follow: Zurich confirms the ambition to help avoiding 5 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions and improving the lives of 5 million people every year. We will build the diversified and profitable impact investment portfolio needed to meet these targets. Find out more here.
I am interested in hearing more about your organization’s approach, as well as answering any questions you may have.