Responsible investment guidelines

The insurance industry and the United Nations (UNEP FI) have laid down global agreements on sustainable insurance in the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI). Achmea is one of the initiators who signed the PSI in 2012. Wherever we can, we exert our influence for a better environment, ofhuman rights and good governance. The PSI help us to deal with social, ecological and governance risks. These include among others: the ageing population, more expensive healthcare, extinction of plants and animals, the growing gap between rich and poor and climate change. In our annual report we render account of how we implement the PSI.

Achmea uses the international guidelines of the UN Global Compact as a standards framework. These guidelines originated from internationally-accepted treaties, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the anti-corruption principles contained in the UN Convention against Corruption. The UN Global Compact requires companies to embrace, support and practise the core values relating to human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption within their own sphere of influence.

The OECD guidance for institutional investors provides a framework for analysing the companies in which we invest in accordance with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The guidelines describe what is expected of companies when it comes to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It offers businesses advice on dealing with issues such as supply chain responsibility, human rights, child labour, the environment and corruption.

Via the International Responsible Business Conduct (IRBC) agreement for the insurance sector we we are committed to work on  environmental and social themes as well as good governance through our investment policy. Insurers are expected to make a careful estimate (due diligence) of the material sustainability risks in their investment portfolios. The agreement is based on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and UN Guiding Principles for Businesses and Human Rights. Achmea incorporates the principles from the IRBC agreement into its policy, processes and reporting. Each year Achmea conducts a self-assessment and accounts for this to an independent monitoring committee appointed by the IRBC agreement for the insurance sector.

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are international standards on human rights to which countries and businesses need to adhere. These were approved by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2011 and contain three pillars: protect, respect and remedy. Each pillar defines tangible, practical steps for governments and businesses to fulfil their respective obligations and responsibilities to prevent human rights violations in business operations and to provide solutions if such violations occur.

Governance Network (ICGN). These describe the responsibilities of management boards and shareholders and are aimed at enhancing dialogue between the two parties.

The Dutch Stewardship Code explains how institutional investors can fulfil their responsibilities as active and responsible shareholders in a manner that contributes to long-term value creation by the listed Dutch companies in which they invest and in turn to the return on their investments.

We assess the quality of the Green Bonds prior to any decision to invest in them. This is done using the ICMA Green Bond Principles and the guidelines (taxonomy) issued by the Climate Bonds Initiative.

The GRI reporting framework comprises widely-accepted reporting standards for the economic, environmental and social performance of an organisation. It can be found on the GRI website (www.globalreporting.org). The report by Achmea’s Executive Board is compiled using this GRI framework.

The GRESB is an independent benchmark that rates property funds and portfolios worldwide and compares their performance on sustainability. Fund managers can use the GRESB scores to review their sustainability policy and implement improvements.

GPR Gebouw is used in real estate investments to assess the sustainability of properties against the themes of energy, the environment, health, user quality and future value. 

BREEAM-NL has been the certification method for the sustainable built environment since 2009. This method enables projects to be assessed on overall sustainability.

The TCFD is an initiative of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) aimed at improving reporting on climate-related financial information. It provides recommendations on information that businesses can report so that investors, lenders and insurers can assess the financial risks of climate change.

The ICGN is an international organisation that contributes to developing international standards for corporate governance.

The European Union has drawn up rules governing the provision of information on sustainability in the financial sector. These rules are known as the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The SFDR aims to increase transparency on the effects of sustainability by improving investment policies and investment decisions taken by financial market parties. This will make it easier to understand the role sustainability plays in the investment policy. The SFDR statements can be downloaded here.