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AIA Group divests from coal

INDONESIA GLOBAL insurer AIA Group has become the bonds and loans as such investments are usu-
latest insurer to divest its coal mining and coal ally held to maturity and less liquid. The insurer,
interests by selling $10bn of investments in the which manages more than $200 billion of assets,
fuel. is also committing to achieving net-zero green-
The insurer said it had completed the sale of house gas emissions by 2050.
directly-managed equity and fixed income port- AIA buys green bonds and also has an exclu-
folios covering coal interests in October, seven sion list to make sure it’s not investing in indus-
years ahead of its original target. tries that are big pollutants, said Lee. It engages
It said it would not make new investments in with companies it invests in to reduce their car-
businesses directly involved in coal mining or bon footprint.
generating electricity from coal. Over the last few years, the “carbon intensity”
“The area that we can make the biggest con- of AIA’s equity holdings has declined, said Lee.
tribution and the biggest impact is really through AIA’s operational emissions will be overseen
our investments,” Chief Executive Officer Lee by a new Climate and Net-Zero Steering Com-
Yuan Siong said in an interview in Hong Kong. mittee that reports directly to Lee. AIA’s chief
AIA’s divestment from coal was not due to investment officer will have direct oversight of
pressure from environmental groups and came the integration of the net-zero commitment into
after the firm had been integrating environmen- its portfolio engagement process.
tal, social and governance metrics into its strat- AIA’s move was welcomed by environmental
egy for some time, he said. group Insure Our Future, but it also called on the
The shirt sponsor of Tottenham Hotspur insurer to clarify how it defines coal companies
had come under pressure to sell its investments to avoid any risk of “greenwashing.”
in coal. It joins a growing number of firms and “Assuming AIA’s announcement reflects
institutions, including Harvard University and reality, it sends a strong message from the big-
Allianz Global Investors in curtailing holdings. gest pan-Asian insurance company to other
According to research by the Insure Our Asian institutional investors that coal needs
Future campaign, 65 insurers with combined to be phased out quickly,” said Peter Bosshard,
assets of $12 trillion have so far divested from global coordinator of Insure Our Future, in a
coal. statement™
Lee said it was more difficult to divest the

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