We are aware of our corporate responsibility. Whether in our business operations, as a part of society, in our role as an employer or as regards the environment. In these respects as in all our business activities, what matters to us is quality, sustainability and partnerships.
Swiss Life Asset Managers’ approach to responsible investment
For us responsible investment means integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria, as well as risk factors and financial metrics, into a controlled and structured investment process. Swiss Life Asset Managers’ investment strategy is designed on a sustainable and long-term basis and harmonised with insurance liabilities. Our investment policy is oriented towards long-term and stable returns. We represent our clients’ interests as an asset manager. We are aware of its responsibility as demonstrated by its actions in investment allocation and the exercise of its voting rights according to clearly defined criteria. We are committed to applying responsible investing throughout our operations.
Swiss Life Asset Managers has become a signatory of the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2018 and is a member of the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB).
The PRI is an international network of investors working together to put six principles for responsible investment into practice. Its goal is to understand the implications of Environmental, Social and Governance issues (ESG) for investors and support signatories to incorporate these issues into their investment decision-making and ownership practices. In implementing the principles, signatories contribute to the development of a more sustainable global financial system.
GRESB is a leading industry-driven organisation evaluating the environmental, social and governance performance of real estate funds.
Swiss Life Asset Managers has managed the investments of the Swiss Life Group and those of institutional clients for more than 160 years and has always followed a long-term and risk-based investment philosophy. This includes the comprehensive assessment of risks and returns. The signing of the PRI and the membership of GRESB is the continuation of the path Swiss Life Asset Managers has pursued and entails the integration of ESG factors into the risk management process.
PRI Transparency Report
As a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment, Swiss Life Asset Manager is reporting annually on progress made.
Swiss Life Asset Managers annually presents the Thesis Award, worth CHF 20 000 in total. The award is given to the best Bachelor's and Master's theses completed at universities of applied sciences throughout Switzerland on the following subjects: financial investments, financial markets, financial services companies, financial instruments and corporate finance.
As a well-known and reliable asset manager, Swiss Life has a particular interest in promoting practical research that addresses innovative and forward-looking topics from the financial world, and thus making its contribution to education in the Swiss financial centre.
Swiss Life Asset Managers supports the “Swiss Real Estate Research Congress”. Research-based work and findings are presented at the annual expert convention in Zurich on real estate, investments and spatial development in Switzerland, and discussed with an expert audience of professors and analysts. As a leading real estate manager in Europe* with over 120 years of experience in property management, it is our pleasure to evaluate one of the works regarding its methodology and content and to participate in the discussions on the latest research findings.
You can find further information on the event at the Swiss Real Estate Research Congress website.
*PropertyEU Top 100 Investors, 2015, 2016 und 2017