ICMIF members have USD 576 bn of assets under management in investments aligned to sustainable investment frameworks, according to the ICMIF Members Sustainable Investment Report 2021 launched by the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) today.
The report’s data shows how the Federation’s members are collectively investing USD 576 billion in sustainable investment frameworks, such as green bonds, social bonds and resilience bonds; many of which will be targeting climate change and its effects.
Mutual and cooperative insurers represent almost 30% of the world’s insurance market and USD 10 trillion in assets. The insurance industry is uniquely positioned to assist with delivering climate action as it has both the assets to invest and the in-depth knowledge of the many risks that need to be mitigated both on a macro level and a community level to make both people and our planet more resilient.
Shaun Tarbuck, ICMIF CEO said “The ICMIF Members Sustainable Investment Report 2021 reveals the results of the 2021 ICMIF Sustainability Investment Framework Survey which are testament to how our members have gone from strength to strength since the inception of this survey in 2019. Our latest findings show solid forward-momentum from the mutual and cooperative insurance sector towards a greener future.”
Key findings:
- ICMIF members confirmed that USD 576 bn of their assets under management are investments aligned to sustainable investment frameworks.
- There are multiple investment frameworks, but the members who responded to our survey show that the UNEP-Convened Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI) and its newer form the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA) are the primary frameworks adopted by ICMIF members.
- Green bonds (and other sustainable bonds) and renewables investing have also seen more than 100% increases in investment since last year.
- Sustainability reporting is growing with most members stating that they actively report on sustainability in some way.
About ICMIF and its pledges to date
ICMIF is the only global body that represents mutual and cooperative insurers and now, in its centenary year, the Federation represents 201 organisations in 60 countries. The activities of many ICMIF members are already having real impact in the fight against climate change as highlighted in the findings from the first ICMIF Members Sustainable Investment Report which shows that ICMIF members have over USD 576 billion invested in responsible investments such as green bonds, social bonds and resilience bonds; many of which will be targeting climate change and its effects.
In September 2014, ICMIF’s Chief Executive, Shaun Tarbuck, spoke at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York where he pledged that the entire global insurance industry would double its investments in sustainable investment frameworks from USD 42 billion to USD 84 billion by the end of 2015, and by a factor of 10 by 2020. A commitment which, at the time, received a lot of focus as it predicted a ten-fold increase for the global insurance sector on the amount that was then invested.
Our 2020 annual sustainable investments survey showed that a sample group of ICMIF members alone had invested USD 286 billion in sustainable investment frameworks in 2019.
Now in 2022, ICMIF has published its Members Sustainable Investment Report 2021 showing that ICMIF members alone, which account for almost 10% of the entire insurance market, had USD 576 billion invested in responsible investments in 2020, achieving the commitment of the ten-fold increase as promised by Mr Tarbuck.
Click here to download the report.
