What Do You Want Tomorrow To Look Like?
As a financial services group, we take our role as a responsible business extremely seriously, viewing it as something to live by on a day-to-day basis on behalf of our customers, our employees, their families, their communities and the world at large.
In 2009 we went so far as to enshrine it as one of our long-term Group strategic objectives, with the aim of enabling positive futures for our customers. This year we tightened our focus even further by throwing our weight behind two primary areas: enabling financial wellbeing and responsible investment.
Acting as a responsible business is not a new imperative for us. Old Mutual has been at the vanguard of being a responsible business throughout our 170-year history. Just a few of our notable contributions include being the first to introduce staff retirement and insurance benefits in1919, of which we paid half. We have consistently supported our 17 m customers in achieving their financial goals and in 2015 our BEE partnership matured, with significant value being delivered through broad-based black economic empowerment over the last 10 years.
This week we raised the bar with regards to responsible investing by hosting an Old Mutual Investment Group conference, themed What should tomorrow look like? At the events in Johannesburg and Cape Town, both held in innovative, green buildings, Old Mutual executives, investment professionals and clients deliberated on what it means to be truly committed to responsible investment and green economic growth (investing in assets that contribute to the transition to a low carbon economy).
Presenters included Old Mutual Investment Group’s CEO Diane Radley and Director of Investments Hywel George, Paul Boynton, Chief Executive Officer of Old Mutual Alternative Investments, and Will Day, Sustainability Adviser to PwC and fellow of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. After the presentations, there was robust debate about the issues on a panel comprising asset owners, asset managers and consultants.
At the event we also introduced our Tomorrow, As Invested As You Are thought leadership handbook. It is the first of its kind – a compendium of essays by Old Mutual Investment Group professionals, as well as a selection of external contributors who are well respected in their fields of endeavour: climate change, green economic development, corporate governance and integrated reporting. It’s a worthwhile read, and you can find it here.
Yours in Responsible Investment,
Gail Klintworth (Group Customer Director and Responsible Business Lead) and Diane Radley (Old Mutual Investment Group CEO)
