Swiss Re Signs on to UN PRI

Swiss Re announced that it has signed the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI). The voluntary program encourages best practice in environmental, social and corporate governance issues in investments. The world’s largest reinsurer said that by adhering to the PRI it “expands its commitment to sustainability considerations in investment decision making.”

Benjamin Meuli, Swiss Re’s Chief Investment Officer commented: “Signing the UN PRI is a natural development of our growing conviction that environmental, social and governance related considerations should provide material input to our investment decisions. It therefore supports Swiss Re’s commitment to sustainable value creation.”

The UN PRI’s six underlying principles are as follows:
1. Incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes.
2. Be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.
3. Seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest.
4. Promote acceptance and implementation of the Principles within the investment industry.
5. Work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the Principles.
6. Report each on activities and progress towards implementing the Principles.

The principles that the signatories sign up to were first formulated in 2005, when the UN Secretary-General “invited a group of the world’s largest institutional investors to join a process to develop the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI),” Swiss Re noted. Individuals representing 20 institutional investors from 12 countries agreed to participate in the Investor Group. The Group accepted ownership of the Principles, and had the freedom to develop them as they saw fit. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Finance Initiative and the UN Global Compact oversee and coordinate the initiative.