Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (“Ping An” or the “Group”, HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) announced that it has been rated A in the Morgan Stanley Capital Investment’s (MSCI) 2022 ESG Ratings, ranking the first in multi-line insurance & brokerage industry in APAC. The upgrade from BBB last year recognizes Ping An’s outstanding performance in the area of “Access to Finance”, and substantial improvements in “Responsible Investment, Climate Change Vulnerability, Corporate Governance and Corporate Behavior”. Ping An’s consistent implementations on responsible investment initiatives with a five-year green finance target also contributed to its score, according to the MSCI ESG Rating report.
Supporting development of the real economy and innovations in inclusive finance
Ping An maintains a “people-centric” philosophy, strengthening financial support in areas such as developing the real economy, small, medium and micro enterprises, and agriculture, rural areas and farmers. Using a combination of insurance funds, bank credit and asset management, and other financial resources, Ping An has invested over RMB5.9 trillion to support the real economy as of September 30, 2022. Through the Ping An Rural Communities Support program, the Group has provided nearly RMB50 billion for poverty alleviation and industrial revitalization as of September 30, 2022.
Ping An’s pursuit of innovation of insurance products aims to make insurance as an economic “shock absorber” and a social “stabilizer”. For example, Ping An Property & Casualty created Catastrophe Parametric Insurance, which makes use of heavy rainfall and typhoon data as parameters for insurance payouts. Once the compensation conditions are met, the compensation amount can be determined without on-site inspection and damage assessment, which helps accelerate post-disaster reconstruction and resumption of business operations. With accumulated insurance payouts in Guangdong province reaching nearly RMB300 million over past five years, the Group’s innovations in insurance have supported rapid reconstruction and resumption of production in disaster-stricken areas and improved climate risk management capabilities.
Promoting responsible investment and green finance
Ping An is committed to promoting green finance and green development. It is supporting China’s goals to peak carbon emission by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 through its green finance initiative. In 2021, Ping An announced its targets of annual growth rates for its green investments of no less than 20%, green insurance premiums no less than 70% and green credit balance no less than 20%. Ping An aims to achieve the overall targets by 2025, with investments and credit of RMB400 billion and total green insurance premiums of RMB250 billion. As of September 30, 2022, Ping An’s green investment and financing totaled approximately RMB319.8 billion, and its green banking business totaled RMB184.2 billion. Premium income of environmentally sustainable insurance products totaled approximately RMB110.5 billion in the first nine months of 2022.
Ping An was the first financial company in mainland China to release a TCFD (Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures) report in 2019. It identified the types of climate change-related risks, time dimensions, impact levels and business segments involved. It assessed the exposure to banking and investment climate risks, and mitigated climate change-related financial risks by deploying green and low-carbon assets and reducing the investment proportion of brown assets.
Integrating Core ESG Philosophies into Corporate Governance
Ping An has integrated the core philosophies and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) standards into its corporate management, drawing on international best practices. It has built a professional sustainability management framework to guide its business practices. The Board of Directors of Ping An developed and followed the Board Diversity Policy
to ensure a balance of Board members in terms of skills, experience and diversified perspectives, and thus to elevate the efficiency of the Board and maintain a high level of corporate governance, drive business reform, prevent risks and protect investors’ rights. Upholding the principle of openness and transparency in information disclosure, Ping An has improved its corporate value and maintained constructive communications with shareholders and investors. It has strengthened mutual trust with the capital markets by proactively communicating key business achievements, including implementation of integrated finance strategies and its healthcare ecosystem strategy, and initiatives to maintain strong customer relationships.
Ping An will continue to integrate social values in its businesses to provide customers with “worry-free, time-saving, and money-saving” experiences in finance and healthcare services. The Group will further improve and implement ESG-related policies, enhance ESG governance and focus on sustainable development strategies – growing value for customers, employees, shareholders, and society.
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