Today the giant reinsurance company Swiss Re announced they have shifted their entire $130B investment portfolio towards ethical investments. They also clarified that they continue to exclude coal from their investment portfolio, a measure they announced late last year.
While this is a big step forward for this major global company, Swiss Re has yet to announce a withdrawal from underwriting coal companies. So we welcome the progress and at the same time question the contradiction of continuing to support climate destruction with their main business model by insuring coal plants and mines. We will continue to pressure them to go all the way.
The article was posted by Financial Times, here is a short excerpt:
Swiss Re shifts entire $130bn portfolio to ethical indices
Platforms reward socially responsible performance with higher weightings
FT, July 6, 2017
Swiss Re, one of Europe’s biggest insurers, is to move its entire $130bn investment portfolio to new, ethically-based benchmark indices.
The company has already started the process of moving away from more traditional benchmarks, and expects to complete it later this year. Its move comes amid renewed interest from the insurance industry in ethical investing. Last year, Axa said it would sell its tobacco investments, and this year others including Aviva and Scor have followed.
Swiss Re says it is the first insurer to base its whole portfolio on ethical principles.
Read the full article on the FT website (subscription required).
