Sustainable business

For sustainable business the following ambitions have been formulated. In 2020:

• a.s.r. is regarded as the sustainable Dutch insurer
• a.s.r. is regarded as sustainable Dutch investor, that encourages and promotes a sustainable investment policy
• a.s.r. qualifies as sustainable employer
• a.s.r. qualifies as most sustainable company in terms of the environment and is 100% carbon-neutral

• Sustainable insurer Show

  Offering security to customers is what lies at the heart of our business. Customers need to be able to rely on a.s.r. meeting its financial obligations because a.s.r.e nters into long-term liabilities such as pension contracts. That is why sustainable financial robustness is essential and one of our top priorities.

  The products and services a.s.r. offers meet the needs of the customers; in addition to being subject to an in-house review, they are also assessed by consumers and employers or a selection of customers. Market surveys, social media and customer behaviour surveys are just some of the instruments a.s.r. uses to identify about its customers' needs.

  • Customer Interest Dashboard

    For a.s.r. and its customers continuity and trust are of great importance. That is why we work hard on fully transparent products and services. a.s.r. attaches great value to offering the most transparant products and services. That is why a.s.r. is open and honest about its rating in the AFM's Customer Centricity Dashboard. This annual survey by the regulator benchmarks the extent to which Dutch financial institutions focus on customer interests in their products, services and processes. See below the score of the tested modules at a.s.r. for the Customer Interest Dashboard.
    Our 2017 score

  • Improving processes

    a.s.r. is continuously looking to improve the processes that are in place to help customers, for instance by assisting unit-linked policyholders and by simplifying the product offering. a.s.r. is constantly making sure that prospective and existing customers can access and understand the information it provides. In addition, a.s.r. improves its processes based on customer feedback e.f. through customer journeys. By engaging with customers about how a.s.r. handled their claim, and how a.s.r. identifies and implements the concrete improvements.

• Sustainable investor Show

  As an institutional investor, one way in which a.s.r. takes ownership of social responsibility is through the use of ethical and sustainability criteria in its investment policy. All investments managed by the Group Asset Management department are screened on the basis of the socially responsible investment (SRI) policy, focusing on aspects such as social and environmental criteria. Countries and businesses that do not meet the criteria are excluded. These include producers of controversial or offensive weapons, nuclear energy and tobacco and the gambling industry. We also require that businesses comply with international conventions on human rights and labour rights.

  a.s.r. applies criteria relating to matters such as gender equality, freedom of union and the exclusion of child labour. We believe in engagement through constructive dialogue with the businesses we invest in with the aim of increasing shareholder value and benefits to society in the long term. Where a business carries on controversial activities and dialogue does not produce a positive outcome, the business is excluded from the investment portfolio. 

  With regard to investments in sovereign debt, a.s.r. excludes countries that have a poor score in the Freedom in the World Annual Report and the Corruption Perceptions Index.

  With regard to investments in sovereign debt, a.s.r. excludes countries that have a poor score in the Freedom in the World Annual Report and the Corruption Perceptions Index. a.s.r.'s Policy for Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) has been developed to allow a.s.r. to pursue a responsible and sustainable approach, whilst minimizing any negative impact on its investment returns. For more insight into a.s.r's Investment and Engagement policies, please view the SRI policy in full.

  Do you have a complaint about our SRI policy?

  If have a complaint about the investment policy of a.s.r. and you want to contact us?  Please fill in our complaint form and we will respond to your complaint. Do you want to contact the appropriate independent institute?  Then you can send your complaint to the contact point of the AFM financial markets through the contact form.

  a.s.r. real estate

  a.s.r. real estate invests on behalf of its clients in retail properties, residential units, offices, agricultural land and estates. a.s.r. real estate seeks to make the assets in its portofolio ever more sustainable, in terms of both energy efficiency and ecological impact. Wherever possible, a.s.r. strives to achieve this at residential and commercial properties at a natural time, i.e. when major repairs are scheduled and when it is finacially expedient. Within the portfolios as many green solutions as possible are used, such as LED lightning, high-efficiency boilers, water-saving sanitary facilities and sedum roofs. More information can be found on the website a.s.r. real estate.

  Downloads

  Sustainable investor Policy

  • SRI Policy ASR Nederlad N.V.
  • Detail criteria for positive screening ASR Nederland N.V.
  • Excluded companies publication H1 2018
  • Excluded countries publication 2019

  Reports

  • a.s.r. Positioning Paper on Climat Change and Energy Transition
  • Carbon Footprint Investment Portfolio Q2 2018
  • Quarterly ESG Update Q4 2018

  Active ownership

  • Voting policy
  • Vote summary report 30 september 2017 - 30 september 2018
  • Report on execution voting policy in 2018
  • Engagement publication H2 2018

  Research

  • Carbon Bubble

  Convenants

  • Sustainable Investing Code
  • UNPRI Score  (Dutch)
  • IMVO convenant (Dutch website)

• Sustainable employer Show

  Having a talented, qualified and healthy workforce is key for a.s.r. in achieving its business objectives. That is why a.s.r. is committed to attracting, retaining and inspiring the best people, offering them extensive scope for training and development, and facilitating a sound work/life balance.

  a.s.r. aspires to be a sustainable employer by:

  • recruiting, developing and retaining the best people;
  • creating an environment of objective and transparent leadership, allowing responsibility to be given and taken;
  • ensuring a focus on trust, so that engagement and performance go hand in hand;
  • investing in the empowerment and sustainable mobility of people, both within and outside the organization.

  Sustainable employability involves ensuring that employees can continue to participate as long and as fully as possible in the labour market while retaining their vitality. Human Resources contributes to this by offering them oppertunties to develop themselves and improve their labour market prospects, both at a.s.r. and elsewhere.

  All a.s.r. employees are entitled to support for increasing their sustainable employability they can ask to receive career counselling and choose from a wide range of workshops and courses. An important precondition is that they are highly motivated and have the right skills and training. In 2017, 266 employees received sustainable employment counselling and 182 availed themselves of mobility services (redundancy programmes).

  Diversity and inclusivity

  a.s.r. is committed to an inclusive culture. For the company’s success it is important that employees are competent, but also that they are sufficiently different from one another. Difference in views, cultures, knowledge and experiences contribute to realising a.s.r.’s objectives and are used and deployed positively in innovative solutions for our customers.

  a.s.r. uses the following definition of diversity: A balanced composition of the workforce, based on age, gender, cultural or social origin, competencies, views and working styles.
  Read the a.s.r. diversity policy

• Sustainable management Show

  Footprint a.s.r. headquarters

  a.s.r. seeks to minimize its impact on nature and the environment. One aspect of this is the efficient use of resources, energy and water. Furthermore, a.s.r. is actively getting to grips with waste management, mobility, energy reduction and carbon emissions. a.s.r. has the ambition to reduce its emissions by 2% annually and to remain 'climate neutral' in terms of its direct footprint of the headquarters. To achieve this, we constantly strive to reduce emissions and the remaining emissions are compensated with Gold Standard certificates.

  Downloads

  • a.s.r. energy efficiency plan (in Dutch)
  • Environmental footprint a.s.r.
  • Environmental statement a.s.r. 2018 (in Dutch)
  • Sustainable taxpayer

  Socially Responsible Procurement

  • Assessing suppliers on their impact on the society
    a.s.r. considers it important to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner. It also expects this from its suppliers.a.s.r. imposes additional requirements on its suppliers in the areas of the environment, human rights and working conditions. These requirements are part of the procurement contracts concluded between a.s.r. and its suppliers. 
  • Screening
    a.s.r. does not do business with partners involved in crime or other socially undesirable acts such as money laundering, fraud or the financing of terrorism. This may endanger its reputation and integrity. a.s.r. has a Customer Due self-reliance Diligence (CDD) policy that requires screening before a contract is signed. The contract management policy also stipulates that a screening is carried out periodically. If, in the opinion of a.s.r., there is reason to doubt the integrity of a supplier, appropriate measures are taken.

• Socially engaged Show

  a.s.r. foundation initiates projects on awareness and financial self-reliance. By teaching and supporting people in reading and arithmetic, being able to handle money and organising their financial administration, a.s.r. contributes to financial self-reliance (SDG 1). a.s.r. also adheres to and executes the ethics manifesto ‘From Debts to Opportunities’: customers who are behind on payments are approached in a timely and pro-active manner to resolve their payment problems (SDG 8). Read more about a.s.r. foundation

  Sponsoring and donation policy

  As a financial service provider, a.s.r. finds it important that people have financial continuity in their lives and that they are able to take responsible risks and make conscious financial choices. a.s.r. wants to help prevent people from getting into debt, or helping them to get out again. Back to the 'roots' of insurance. Helping by doing.

  Our sponsorship and donation policy fits in with this and is always focused on those starting points. The purely financial support does not or hardly ever occur. It is often a combination of material and substantive support.

  • Read more about our sponsoring and donations policy
  • Contact information

  Social partner of FC Utrecht football club

  Since July 2016 a.s.r. is social partner of 'FC Utrecht Maatschappelijk'. FC Utrecht Maatschappelijk wants to contribute to the vitality and improvement of financial awareness in the province of Utrecht.a.s.r. foundation wants to help people make conscious financial choices so that they do not get into debt or come out again. a.s.r. foundation specifically focus on promoting financial education for children and young people and supporting households with (risk of) problematic debts. Many FC Utrecht activities and projects fit in well with this objective. 
  
  www.fcutrecht.nl/maatschappelijk (Dutch website)

  Foundations

  a.s.r. is committed to conserving cultural and social heritage, which is why the company is involved in a number of nation-wide and local foundations. The historical library cabinet of a.s.r.-predecessor De Utrecht, for example, was given a beautiful place in our building after more than 40 years of wandering. The local ties mostly stem from the past presence of an a.s.r. division in a city or town. Read more about Foundations

• Codes and Guidelines
• asr foundation