Investing with positive impact
Having a positive impact on society is part of NN Group’s responsible investing approach. We apply sustainability factors in our investment approach and invest in climate solutions. We explain our approach for each asset class.
Our investment portfolio
As an insurer, NN maintains a diverse investment portfolio to meet the obligations of our insurance policyholders and for equity (capital). The NN Group portfolio that we invest for our own account and risk spans various asset classes, sectors and countries. We integrate sustainability factors into our investment processes whether we are researching and analysing companies and countries, voting as shareholders or selecting asset managers.
Fixed income and listed equity
Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) manages our listed equity portfolio and the large majority of our fixed income assets.
The integration of sustainability factors is an integral part of GSAM’s investment processes. All analysts have access to sustainability data from several data/research providers, which includes information on how each company scores on different sustainability criteria compared to its sector average. The analysts incorporate this data into their investment cases and use it to assess the materiality for each company.
Read more in the Responsible Investment Policy published on the GSAM website.
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Criteria for classifying green, social and sustainability bonds
By investing in green, social and sustainability bonds, NN is working towards the broader sustainability transition and aims to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We ask our external managers to follow the NN Green, Social and Sustainability Bond Standard which sets minimum requirements that bond investments need to meet. The standard follows internationally adopted frameworks, draws on current market practices and needs to be applied together with the NN Responsible Investment Framework Policy.
Investing in Climate Solutions
We have developed an internal framework for defining climate solutions investments. As an initial step in classifying climate solutions investments, we focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy. By the end of 2024, total investments in climate solutions reached EUR 12.8 billion, exceeding our previous 2030 target, set in 2021, of EUR 11 billion. We have updated our target for climate solutions investments to EUR 13 billion by 2030, subject to market environment and constraints.
Real estate
NN Group has formalised a sustainability approach for its own real estate portfolio. Our responsible investment guidelines for real estate set out the expectations for our (external) real estate managers. NN Group has been a member of the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) since 2014. We use the GRESB annual Real Estate Assessment to evaluate and engage with our real estate investments with the aim of improving the sustainability performance of our portfolio. For information on how we perform in GRESB, refer to the NN Group Annual Report.
Private equity
NN Group’s responsible investment guidelines for private equity cover investments in funds that are managed by external private equity managers. The guidelines define our approach to integrating ESG factors into the selection and appointment of new private equity managers. For existing investments, we seek to actively engage with the managers to raise awareness on the importance of ESG factors during the evaluation and ongoing management of their private equity portfolio companies. Our ESG dashboard is part of our internal performance reports and tracks the progress of the private equity funds and managers.