QBE’s impact investment initiative boosts portfolio growth
QBE’s global impact investment initiative, Premiums4Good, is celebrating another year of growth with the total number of assets helping make a positive environmental and social impact now at 103* as it maintains its ambition to reach USD 2 billion in impact investments by 2025.
Today’s launch of its 2022 Premiums4Good Impact Report highlights some of the investments and key accomplishments over the past year as it continues to finance environmental and social impact initiatives working to support a more resilient future.
QBE Head of Impact and Responsible Investments, James Pearson, said a key focus over the past 12 months has not only been making new investments but also continuing to mature QBE’s approach to impact investing, including exploring global impact measurement and management standards, and opportunities to further embed innovation.
“This year we expanded our customer opt-in approach to every division we operate in with the opt-in capability increased to 100 per cent of premiums. We are grateful for the support of our customers who are enabling us to continue to grow this initiative and keep us on track to meet our 2025 ambition of USD 2 billion in impact investments,” said Mr Pearson.
QBE currently has USD 1.58 billion invested across the 103 investments, which include social impact bonds, green social and sustainability (GSS) bonds, and impact investment funds.
“Premiums4Good is a global initiative that we’re hugely proud of at QBE with a focus on driving capital towards investments that deliver positive social and environmental change, alongside attractive risk-adjusted returns. We’re excited to see sustained growth as we continue to develop our approach to impact investing and further understand where opportunities exist,” continued Mr Pearson.
One of the new investments QBE secured this year, through Premiums4Good, is a Health Thematic Bond with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development bank owned by 68 member countries with 49 from Asia and the Pacific, aiming to eradicate extreme poverty in the region.
Through Thematic Bond offerings, the ADB funds projects that address quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, and good health, including its Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX) program, where they supported the Government of Bangladesh in their vaccination efforts during the escalation of the pandemic by delivering 113 million vaccination doses to more than 40 million people.
Launched in 2016, QBE believes Premiums4Good offers a compelling proposition of business and social value by seeking to deliver attractive, risk-adjusted returns while also pursuing positive social and environmental impact.
The QBE Premiums4Good Investment Impact Report 2022 is available to download at:
https://www.qbe.com/premiums4good
*103 securities invested in by QBE as part of Premiums4Good as at 30 November 2022 (up from 85 in June 2021)
About QBE
QBE is an international insurer and reinsurer offering a diverse portfolio of commercial, personal and specialty products, as well as risk management solutions.
We are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and headquartered in Sydney. We employ more than 11,000 people in 27 countries and have more than $27bn in assets under management in 2021.
We are driven by our purpose – to enable a more resilient future – and we strive to make a positive contribution to the environment and communities in which we operate.
About Premiums4Good
Premiums4Good is a market-leading initiative where QBE invests everyday premiums towards initiatives helping make a difference in the environment and communities across the world.
Through Premiums4Good, we invest customers’ premiums into impact investments with the intention to create positive social and/or environmental outcomes along with attractive risk-adjusted financial returns, at no extra cost to the customer.
These investments include green, social and sustainability (GSS) bonds, social impact bonds, and impact investment funds, supporting a range of projects and programs. From renewable energy initiatives to programs that support vulnerable people and communities, Premiums4Good helps us, together with our customers, work toward a more resilient future.