Responsible Underwriting, Lending & Investing

To support implementation of the Responsible Banking and Insurance Policy in Australia, we are developing a range of Standards to respond to environmental and social risks in our business. These Standards will help to ensure consistent decision making across our investment, banking and insurance portfolios on issues including thermal coal, tobacco and controversial weapons.

Suncorp’s Responsible Investment Policy incorporates environmental, social and governance considerations into investment manager selection and the evaluation of investment risks and opportunities. The Policy outlines our criteria for investments, our approach to impact investing and the governance of proxy voting activity. Our investment managers apply a shadow carbon price to their analysis of investment opportunities, to manage the risk of stranded assets as we transition to a net-zero emissions economy. 

Suncorp also ensures strong governance of procurement activities and is managing the environmental and social risks and opportunities in our supply chain. Our Corporate Responsibility Principles are embedded in our Procurement Policy and Supplier Code of Practice for our Australian operations.

In 2019 Suncorp became a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, an international network of institutional investors that works to understand the implications of environmental, social and governance factors. 

Following amendments to external investment manager mandates last year, Suncorp divested from tobacco and controversial weapons (land mines, cluster munitions, biological and chemical weapons). We also worked with our investment managers to exclude a small number of companies with identified human rights abuses in their operations or supply chains. In 2019 our list of exclusions was extended to cover recreational cannabis.

During the year Suncorp actively participated in a global working group with the Science Based Targets Initiative to develop standards for the reporting of Scope 3 carbon emissions in the financial sector. 

We were also involved in a global pilot to measure the alignment of our equity and credit portfolios with a less-than-2-degree Celsius transition scenario. We aim to use this analysis to further minimise our exposure to stranded asset risk and those highly impacted by the transition to a net-zero emissions economy. Overall, Suncorp’s equity portfolios are less carbon intensive than the benchmark.

In support of our Responsible Investment Policy, Suncorp proactively seeks opportunities to engage in social impact investing that meets both our investment and social impact assessment criteria. In 2019–20, Suncorp expanded its social impact investments by becoming one of the first investors in the Synergis Disability Housing Fund, which aims to address the substantial undersupply of housing for people living with a disability. It's estimated that 12,000 National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants currently have no access to much-needed specialist disability housing. 

We remain committed to investments in renewable energy infrastructure and low-carbon solutions that deliver both financial and environmental outcomes. During the year, Suncorp’s $15 million commitment to the Palisade Renewable Energy Fund became fully drawn down. Palisade completed the development of a large-scale solar energy project in Townsville and progressed the Granville progressed the Granville Harbour wind project in Tasmania. As at 30 June 2020, Suncorp’s investment in low-carbon solutions was $236 million.

Suncorp is committed to ensuring all proxies are voted in a manner consistent with Suncorp’s Responsible Investment Policy and Corporate Responsibility Principles.

In 2019–20, Suncorp undertook a continuous improvementfocused review of our Proxy Voting Principles, with a strengthened commitment to the independence of the Chair, properly constituted polling on substantial matters, and communication about the Principles that will guide how we vote on shareholder sponsored resolutions. We also finalised and published our Proxy Voting Summary, which includes our Principles. This year, Suncorp voted all eligible proxy resolutions, voting at 336 meetings on 2,766 resolutions in 21 countries.