Man­age­ment sum­ma­ry

This is the first time that the Swiss insurance industry has reported on its commitment to sustainability in a joint report.
The SIA Sustainability Report covers the areas of investment, operational ecology and underwriting. It is based on data supplied by 32 member companies of the Swiss Insurance Association (SIA). With their investments, these companies account for 94 per cent of all investment made by private insurers (a total of CHF 582 billion as at 31 December 2018; source: Finma).

When it comes to investments, the data reveals that in the year under review, 86 per cent of the investments managed by the reporting companies included ESG criteria when the investment decisions were made. ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance. These aspects are implemented primarily in the real estate, fixed-income securities, shares and alternative investment categories.

As an integral part of their sustainability efforts, sustainable and responsible resource allocation and appropriate action are part of operational management arrangements at a large number of member companies. This was the result of the survey in the area of operational ecology: 25 member companies prepare an internal ecological balance sheet and most also communicate it externally. As data for 2019 was not yet available, this Sustainability Report is based on data for 2017 and 2018. The figures reported point towards an improvement in the ecological balance sheet. In particular, energy consumption and CO2 emissions per full-time equivalent were down in 2018 in a year-on-year comparison.

As no comparable pool of data exists in the area of underwriting, the Sustainability Report uses individual, specific measures to demonstrate the commitment of Swiss private insurers to sustainability in this area. Some insurers, for example, have already made the decision not to insure certain companies or entire technologies. Decisions are focused on exclusion of CO2-intensive industries and projects. Another approach taken by individual insurers is to engage, or seek dialogue, with the individuals responsible at the insured companies: Insurers have defined conditions that the insured companies must meet and comply in order to avoid losing their insurance cover.