QBE Insurance Group

Challenge

QBE Insurance Group Ltd is one of the largest insurers and reinsurers worldwide, providing a broad range of insurance products to personal, business, corporate and institutional customers. QBE’s purpose is to give people the confidence to achieve their ambitions. When it comes to customers and other stakeholders, many want to see their insurance premiums invested in line with their beliefs and values. QBE has met this challenge, making responsible and impact investments that reflect their customers’ values, while also meeting their risk-return requirements.

Approach

In 2014, QBE launched Premiums4Good, a collaboration between QBE, its customers and its stakeholders. Through this, a percentage of customer premiums go to investments with additional social or environmental benefits. Premiums4Good supports QBE’s belief that they can deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns and business value while making a positive social and environmental impact.

QBE has made a number of investments supporting social impact in the UK. In 2018 it invested together with us in Cheyne Social Impact Property Fund, a property fund that helps tackle chronic shortages of housing for disadvantaged groups, and addresses the challenge of social and affordable housing.

In 2019, QBE invested in the Bridges Social Outcomes Fund II. This fund offers working capital and management resources to delivery partners who provide vital services in areas including children and families, housing, employment, health and social care.

By June 2020, QBE had USD904 million invested across 66 investments, including social impact bonds, social bonds, green bonds, and infrastructure – supporting a range of initiatives from renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure, to social services and programs to support vulnerable people and communities.

QBE’s ambition is to invest USD2 billion into impact investments across multiple assets and locations by 2025.

Impact

QBE’s Premiums4Good impact investment initiative has been recognised over the years, including by British Insurance Awards (Business Sustainability Initiative of the Year, 2017), Australian Impact Investment Awards (Impact Asset Owner of the Year, 2018), and the Business Intelligence Group (Sustainability Leadership Award) in its 2020 Sustainability Awards program.