In its role as an asset owner and manager, Swiss Life consistently integrates ESG factors into its investment activities. Around 90% of all assets managed by Swiss Life take the “Responsible Investment” approach into account.

Swiss Life is an asset manager for its own insurance companies as well as for third-party clients such as pension funds, other insurance companies and private investors. As a responsible investor, Swiss Life can make a relevant contribution to the positive development of society and the environment. It does this by reducing risks to society and the environment, exploiting corresponding opportunities, and offering its customers appropriate investment products and solutions. The long-term protection of customer funds and the optimal allocation of risk capital are the main objectives. Invested assets must be secure, profitable, and liquid overall.

Due to the long-term nature of its liabilities, Swiss Life invests predominantly in fixed-income securities such as government and corporate bonds as well as in real estate, equities and infrastructure. Its investment decisions have always been informed by a long-term assessment of risks and returns.

Targets as an asset owner & manager

As an asset owner & manager, Swiss Life has set out clear goals for making progress in the area of sustainability.

Securities

Swiss Life supports the objectives of the Paris Agreement and, for insurance business investments, has a strategy for exiting from the carbon-intensive coal sector. In particular, Swiss Life refrains from investing in bonds issued by companies which derive more than 10% of their revenue from the mining, extraction or sale of coal for power stations. A corresponding threshold also applies to infrastructure investments: Swiss Life does not invest in projects or companies in which more than 10% of the company or project valuation is attributable to contributions from transactions involving coal for power stations.

Real Estate Management

As a major real estate owner, Swiss Life can make an important contribution to reducing carbon emissions in its own portfolio. In recent years, Swiss Life has focused on gradually and systematically integrating ESG criteria into real estate portfolio management and asset management. The company expanded this approach in 2021 to include a CO₂ reduction path for its directly held real estate portfolio. The reduction path is in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. With regard to the 1.5° target, Swiss Life has set itself the goal by 2030 of reducing the CO₂ emissions of its entire directly held building stock by 20% compared to 2019. Swiss Life is pursuing a “net zero by 2050” target for its directly held investment properties.

Responsible Investment Report

In our Responsible Investment Report we summarise how we understand ESG and how we integrate it into our investments.

Principles for Responsible Investment

How we describe the different aspects of this approach to show its suitability for market standards, regulation and its consistency across the organisation.

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Contact

Your contact for questions on the topic of responsible investing