Five years ago, it was mainly European insurers who were using environmental, social and Governance (ESG) integration as part of their investment criteria. But with climate change rapidly becoming a global concern, and Covid-19 changing how we live, the use of ESG factors has become a global phenomenon.

Insurers from the US to Asia are now listing sustainable investing as their top priority for 2022 and beyond. Yet climate change is only part of the issue. Modern crises around biodiversity, food and water insecurity, inequality, human rights, and other major issues cannot be ignored. And then we have the pandemic, which has put a greater focus on the fragility of human life.

Milliman Financial Risk Management Services, which offers investment management and actuarial consulting services to life insurers and financial institutions, has studied how insurers are embracing sustainable investing as they face these kinds of challenges.

In this paper co-authored by two of Robeco’s insurance experts, we focus on how insurance companies frame their investment strategy around sustainability and look at some of the challenges they face in implementing sustainable investing.