Insurance

Insurers' climate engagement strategies are failing as major oil and gas producers show no sign of adopting credible net-zero pathways, according to climate campaigners.

Aviva's chief executive Amanda Blanc has urged regulators to create a "safe environment" for insurers to publish their plans for how they will transition to net-zero emissions without fear of reprisals.

The carbon intensity of Swiss Re's combined corporate bond and listed equity portfolio decreased by 42% at the end of 2022, compared with the 2018 base year, it reported.

Some 20% of Phoenix's listed equity and credit portfolios are exposed to sectors at high risk in the transition to a net-zero economy, such as energy, utilities, industrials and materials.

Aviva has divested almost all its £2.5 billion ($3 billion) exposure to fossil fuel companies on its "Stoplist" of firms with weak ambitions to reduce their climate impact.

The Bank of England said it will "explore whether changes to the macroprudential framework might be appropriate" to help protect against climate risks,...

Credit research institute I-CV and ESG data business RepRisk have launched ESG Radar

Zurich has excluded five companies from its investment and underwriting activities as it no longer considered their "progress against transition plans to be credible".

Entries to Environmental Finance's annual Sustainable Investment Awards are open until 14 April 2023.

Property, casualty and specialty reinsurer Ariel Re has issued a $125m catastrophe bond with a mechanism that will help offset carbon emissions associated with having to replace damaged property.

M&G Investments has invested $300 million in a strategy to back "innovative, intellectual property-backed businesses", via its Catalyst fund.

Biodiversity is "arguably the biggest opportunity for private markets", and will expand beyond timberland to other types of investments including in the technology sector, an executive at Manulife has said.

Environmental Finance's sister publication Insurance Asset Risk and J.P. Morgan Asset Management have launched the third edition of their annual research report into the sustainable investing practices of insurers.