Switzerland’s Zurich Life Company is “agnostic” when it comes to choosing between in-house and external asset managers but gives priority to its own group for emissions-related mandates, according to Matt Vincent, the company’s managing director and Asia Pacific chief investment officer.
He points out that the insurer has a lengthy 24-year track record of manager selection and management. Around one-third of its assets is managed internally, including in Indonesia, Malaysia and India in the Asia Pacific region.
“Zurich is agnostic in respect of choice between insourced and outsourced management service provision,” Vincent says in an interview with Asia Asset Management. But “we prioritise our Zurich Group’s units in respect of [carbon]emissions mandates”.
Zurich Life mainly focuses on active management of investment strategies.
“Active management allows important conversations with company management around the topic of carbon de-risking, and how investee firms expect to manage the transition to net zero by 2050,” Vincent says.
He says such “constructive” dialogues are helpful because carbon transition plans are long term in nature and typically longer than the maturity of existing debt issuance.
He says Zurich’s head office manager selection team and local country investment teams work together to choose the most appropriate managers for their countries or particular asset class requirements, leveraging on local capabilities, market skills, and capital market accessibility.
Zurich Life is listed on Switzerland’s SIX stock exchange, with a market capitalisation of around 81 billion Swiss francs (US$90.74 billion).
