3 Value Creation 3in and Valuefor society Creation 3.1 in and Our commitment to for society stakeholders is further strengthened through Connect21
As an insurance group, Ageas is at the heart of a number of societal themes which are very much present in all our lives. An ageing population, health related matters, new forms of living, mobility and climate change, all create risks and opportunities for Ageas's businesses.
To remain relevant not just today, but also in the future, the company has reflected on these challenges. In the context of Connect21, its current 3 year strategic plan, it adopted a full stakeholder model including society aiming at creating value for all its stakeholders whilst taking into account the specificities of the various countries. For each stakeholder category, clear ambitions have been agreed upon and are being put in practice. Ageas committed to adhering to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Based on its core competences it choose to actively work around the following 10 SDGs:
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3 Value Creation in and for society 3.1 Our commitment to The visual symbolises Ageas’s stakeholder engagement stakeholders is further and a clear commitment on who the company wants to be as a Group, strengthened through a true “Supporter of your life”
Connect21
As an insurance group, Ageas is at the heart of a number of societal themes which are very much present in all our lives. An ageing population, health related matters, new forms of living, mobility and climate change, all create Ageas’s first materiality matrix risks and opportunities for Ageas's businesses. To gain detailed insight into the sustainability topics that are most Ageas and were categorised under Employees, Investors, Society and To remain relevant not just today, but also in the future, the company has reflected on these relevant for the business, Ageas performed its first materiality Business Partners. The End Customer was not included during this first challenges. In the context of Connect21, its current 3 year strategic plan, it adopted a full assessment in 2020. The results of the assessment will be used as input materiality assessment. Alternatively, business partners (brokers) did stakeholder model including society aiming at creating value for all its stakeholders whilst taking for future strategic planning cycles as well as to increase transparency provide insights on the expectations of the End Customer. Even though into account the specificities of the various countries. For each stakeholder category, clear on sustainability to stakeholders. The materiality assessment consisted Ageas is in frequent contact with all stakeholder groups, it was the first ambitions have been agreed upon and are being put in practice. Ageas committed to adhering of three large phases which took place between February and time these stakeholders were consulted specifically in the context of to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Based on its core competences it choose to September 2020. sustainability. Discussions will be ongoing with each stakeholder group actively work around the following 10 SDGs: on specific topics resulting from the assessment. To gain insight into As consultations were conducted during the global COVID-19 crisis, it the geographical differences of the Ageas Group different entities were is no surprise that the topics Financial Resilience and Responsible included in these consultations: Belgium, UK, Continental Europe and
Governance rank highest from both a stakeholder and management the Ageas headquarters in Brussels and Hong Kong. perspective. For an insurance company, having a solid financial performance, strong and reliable governance and continuously For the internal perspective the Executive Management and Board of anticipating (societal) challenges is crucial to fulfil all stakeholders’ Directors, as well as the OpCo CEOs and HR managers were involved. needs. Both the stakeholder and management consultations consisted of an online survey, combined with in-depth interviews. Ageas received a How we went about it total of 1,234 answers for the surveys (response rate of 54%). In a first phase, an elaborated desktop study on internal and public Furthermore, a total of 22 in-depth interviews were organised, spread documents (documentation by internationally recognised sustainability across the different stakeholder groups and management, to ensure a standards and organisations, ESG ratings, reports of peers and media more profound understanding of the expectations and performance of articles) was performed, to arrive at a list of relevant topics for Ageas, Ageas on these topics. adhering to the concept of double materiality. Ageas’s different operating companies were involved in this phase to ensure the list of The third and final phase consisted of analysing all the input received topics were representative for all geographical areas in which Ageas is and drawing conclusions. This resulted in a consolidated materiality active. matrix for the entire Ageas Group (see below). To make the results more tangible for the local OpCos, a materiality matrix was built for each In the second phase stakeholder and management consultations were OpCo as well. The group materiality matrix was presented to and held to help prioritise the relevant topics. Different stakeholder groups validated by the Executive Management and the Board of Directors. were selected based on Ageas’s impact on them and their influence on
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Results The first materiality matrix for Ageas shows as follows: Results
The first materiality matrix for Ageas shows as follows: