More Apac insurers integrating ESG criteria into their investment strategies

SEVENTY per cent of Asia-Pacific (Apac) insurers have either already integrated ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria into their investment strategies, or are doing so, a recent survey showed.

The review, conducted by global asset manager abrdn and financial services strategy consultancy Quinlan & Associates, found that for the remaining 30 per cent of insurers surveyed, the largest barriers to ESG and net-zero integration were data quality and investment management. Other notable challenges included stakeholder management, regulatory reporting and governance.

The survey involved 56 senior executives from 43 insurance companies across eight markets in Apac. It investigated the regulatory expectations, motivations and challenges that insurers in the region face in integrating ESG factors into their investment operations.

While regulatory expectations were a key motivation for insurers to integrate ESG criteria, the survey found that company branding was the most crucial motivation, with 80 per cent of respondents rating it “important”, or “very important”.

Among external stakeholders, the expectations of end-investors were considered to be marginally more important than those of customers.

The survey also examined Apac insurers’ views of their local ESG and net-zero regulatory enforcement outlooks. It found that most Apac insurers believe that these regulations will be tightened in the next three years, especially in Australia, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Learn more: The Business Time