This year's Re/insurer of the year award once again goes to Zurich Investment Group - having won every year in this category since 2022.

Zurich reports it has committed to building an impact investment portfolio that helps to avoid 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, and, separately, makes a positive contribution to the lives and livelihoods of 5 million people per year. The firm also met its target of having five percent of its assets under management in impact funds by 2025 - one year early.

Zurich's rigorous approach to impact measurement leverages standards such as the Global Impact Investing Network's (GIIN) Impact Reporting, the Operating Principles for Impact Management (OPIM) and Investment Standards (IRIS), and the Green Bond Principles' (GBP) harmonised framework for impact reporting. These complement the company's own metrics and enable capital to be allocated more efficiently to where impact is generated most effectively, it says.

One example of such an investment in 2024 was a portfolio of 23 solar parks in Spain. These solar parks can produce 180,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) annually, enough energy to power around 9,000 homes, supporting the growth of Spain's renewable energy sector and contributing towards clean electricity generation, while avoiding 1,300 metric tons of Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) annually.