ESG

The Zurich-based manager says frameworks designed for equity investing will take time to adapt to insurance investing.

The EU’s SFDR is the first major regulatory attempt to codify ESG disclosure requirements, and other regions are expected to introduce similar rules in the future.

The firm is the first ILS platform to reveal that its funds have the new classification.

Environmental, social and governance concerns are of growing importance to the ILS industry, but work remains to be done on building a consensus about concrete goals.

The firm signed up to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment a year ago.

Underwriting results and ESG principles should be aligned and more information will be sought from counterparties, the ILS manager said.

A growing focus on climate change, as well as the increasing breadth of the ILS market, means that investors are considering the argument for ILS as an ESG investment, as well as a diversifier.