NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Insurance group Zurich has revealed plans to plough around $100m into companies and projects that have a positive environmental or social impact.

Zurich today pledged to put up to 10 per cent of its private equity investments into "impact investments" that either support the development of a low carbon economy or boost community resilience, marking the latest step forward in its responsible investment strategy.

The company said it would now work with fund managers to identify equity funds which directly address environmental and social responsibility issues, while also targetting financial returns.

"Our vision is of a future in which we will have a much better understanding of the social and environmental impacts – both positive and negative – of the companies and assets in which we invest, allowing us to achieve positive impact and superior risk-adjusted returns," said Urban Angehrn, chief investment officer for Zurich in a statement. "With impact private equity we can do this already today, at least for one small part of our portfolio. Our hope is to help make this approach more mainstream over the coming years."