QBE Asia launches social and environmental impact investments

The investments QBE is eyeing include environmental projects – such renewable energy, waste management and water conservation – and ones that deliver direct, sustainable benefits to communities, such as helping the homeless or providing additional social care to adults and young people.

“Climate change is an important issue globally and all progress taken in this space needs to be sustainable,” said Jason Hammond, CEO of QBE Asia. “While we have taken steps as an enterprise to be better stewards of the environment, Premiums4Good takes it a step further and allows our customers to put their hand up and get involved in our collective effort to do better for the world – all without the need for them to put in additional resource or cost expenditures to do so.”

One such programme supported through Premiums4Good is QBE’s investment in the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s Gender Thematic Bond, which seeks to bring gender equality support and women’s empowerment to the forefront. This targeted initiative helps communities to improve social protection and health programmes, reduce poverty and better support the prevention of and response to gender-based violence. As of July 2021, ADB has raised over US$2.9 billion through this programme, QBE said.

Premiums4Good is now offered across QBE’s markets in Australia Pacific, Asia, Europe and North America. As of Dec. 31, 2021, QBE had invested US$1.4 billion through Premiums4Good, with a goal to reach US$2 billion by 2025. To acknowledge the contributions of its customers and partners, QBE issues them a certificate of recognition for their Premiums4Good contributions.

“There is growing recognition for investment initiatives that drive a positive environmental and/or social impact including their real potential to contribute to addressing climate change issues,” said Andy White, chief underwriting officer of QBE Asia. “Premiums4Good is our commitment to putting purpose into action, to help our customers and partners to do the same and contribute actively to long-term sustainable and social change. Premiums4Good demonstrates our leadership in the impact investment sector and how social value can integrate perfectly with business value to deliver both attractive risk-adjusted returns and positive social and environmental impact.”