Old Mutual

In terms of senior leadership accountability, the responsibility for sustainability issues at Old Mutual lies with the responsible business committee of the board. Furthermore, the insurance company has gender-balanced representation among its senior leadership roles where 43% are women.

As a member of the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, Old Mutual has set a target of net-zero financed emissions by 2050. It also aligns its engagement with a 1.5°C trajectory. As a member of Climate Action 100+, Old Mutual also collectively engages with its investees on the topic of climate change. Furthermore, the insurance company discloses the aggregate amount invested in clean energy.

Old Mutual publishes the proportion of its total direct operations workforce for each employee category by gender and ethnicity. Furthermore, the insurance company discloses the amount of finance it directs towards small- and medium-sized enterprises. Old Mutual has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption as well as a grievance mechanisms accessible to all stakeholders to raise human rights and bribery and corruption complaints.

While Old Mutual discloses that it links the remuneration of its executive theme to performance on social topics, it could extend the link to environmental topics as well. To improve its disclosure on gender topics, the insurance company could commit to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment and disclose how it addresses any gender pay gaps. Furthermore, women are underrepresented on the board of directors where only five out of sixteen board members are women. Old Mutual engages with its investees on environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics but it has the opportunity to disclose similar evidence covering all its financing activities.

Old Mutual could disclose interim emissions reduction targets at the group level, such as a 45% reduction in financed emissions by 2030. While the insurance company discloses South African listed equities as its key sectors to engage with on the topic of climate change, it has an opportunity to disclose the rationale for choosing these priorities. Furthermore, Old Mutual has an opportunity to strengthen its engagement on climate topics by requiring clients to have a strategy aligned with the Paris Agreement. In addition, there is no evidence that the insurance is committed to minimising the negative impacts it has on nature and biodiversity.

Although Old Mutual has a publicly available statement regarding human rights, it has the opportunity to strengthen it by committing to respecting human rights. Furthermore, there is no evidence of a process for identifying its human rights risks through its relevant financing activities. On diversity, Old Mutual discloses the ages of its board of directors and executive committee but could provide this information for each employee category. To increase transparency on financial inclusivity, the insurance company has an opportunity to disclose the amount of finance directed towards women-owned businesses and low-income developing countries.