Sustainability

Introduction

Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and Council of November 27, 2019, also known as the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”), regulates sustainability-related disclosure requirements in the financial services sector. In accordance with the requirements of the SFDR, YOUPLUS Assurance AG (hereinafter «YOUPLUS») provides more transparency for its customers and partners in this area as well.

Information on how YOUPLUS Assurance AG deals with sustainability risks regarding capital investments (according to Art. 3 SFDR)

YOUPLUS understands sustainability risks as events or conditions in the areas of the environment («environmental»), social («social») or corporate management («governance-related») – together the «ESG risks» – the occurrence of which is actually or potentially significant could have a negative impact on YOUPLUS' assets, profitability or reputation. Examples of such ESG risks are climate change, loss of biodiversity, violations of internationally recognized labor standards (e.g. child labor) or corruption.

Investing sustainably is an important concern for YOUPLUS because, in our opinion, taking ESG risks into account leads to an improved risk-return profile in the long term. With regard to the assets of our central fund (i.e. the actuarial reserve for "classic" life insurance policies with guaranteed interest), we pursue the goal of diversifying the capital entrusted to us by policyholders as broadly as possible and investing it profitably in the long term. This enables us to consistently ensure high-performance insurance protection for all of our customers. We already exclude for our own assets as well as assets of the central fund (i.e. assets covering actuarial reserves for traditional life insurance liabilities) investments in certain areas: The company does not invest in individual assets (stocks, bonds, etc.) that have been issued by companies that are known or with a high probability of violating moral or violating ethical principles, for example by employing children as labourers, producing goods or services using forced labor (forced labour) or disregarding human rights in the production of their goods and services. In addition, YOUPLUS does not invest in individual assets (shares, bonds, etc.) issued by companies located in countries against which economic sanctions exist or in countries that are classified as " risk countries” are to be understood.

YOUPLUS will participate in the PACTA / Climate Scenario Analysis Program [PACTA / Climate Scenario Analysis Program - 2DII (2degrees-investing.org)] for the first time in 2022. By using the tools provided there, ESG risks of the climate-relevant sectors in the portfolio can be analyzed. These sectors are made up of power generation, coal mining, upstream oil and gas, automotive, cement, steel and aviation, and are responsible for about 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

YOUPLUS strives to take an active role in the selection process for the investment and investment funds that serve as the underlying of unit-linked insurance products and where customers bear the investment risk. When updating and expanding the range of funds, regular evaluations are carried out to determine which funds meet the internationally recognized rules on sustainability and to what extent, in order to be able to provide customer information on the corresponding funds within the framework of legal requirements. In doing so, YOUPLUS generally strives to be able to offer customers the widest possible selection of sustainable funds. Notwithstanding the aforementioned efforts, YOUPLUS will continue to offer funds for the time being and will include funds in the range of funds that do not formally meet the ESG sustainability criteria. This ensures that customers continue to have the largest and most diverse fund selection possible, on the basis of which investment decisions can ultimately be implemented in line with the respective customer preferences.

No consideration of adverse impacts of investment decisions on sustainability factors

According to Art. 4 of the SFDR, YOUPLUS is obliged to publish on its website

  • either to consider the main adverse impacts of its investment decisions on sustainability factors and to disclose a statement of its strategy to implement adequate measures in relation to mitigating these impacts, given its size, the nature and scope of its activities and the types of financial products it provides, or
  • if it does not consider adverse impacts of investment decisions on sustainability factors, to state clear reasons why the company does not implement this in the above-mentioned form and to provide information on whether and, if so, from when it intends to consider the main adverse impacts of its investment decisions depending on sustainability factors to be taken into account.

YOUPLUS does not yet record adverse sustainability effects at company level or at product level. The reason for this decision by YOUPLUS is that a reliable assessment of the sustainability effects of investment decisions is currently not possible for YOUPLUS at a reasonable cost due to the substantial lack of proper and well-defined data in many asset classes and the overall still inadequate quality of relevant data.

Based on the facts and details on the legal framework available at the beginning of December 2022, YOUPLUS is endeavoring to take into account the requirement to present and explain the PAI, probably for the first time from 2025 (for the 2024 financial year) on the basis of the data then available.

Information on the inclusion of sustainability risks in the remuneration policy (according to Art. 5 SFDR)

YOUPLUS has incorporated sustainability risks into its remuneration policy as follows: Almost all YOUPLUS employees are eligible for bonuses under the company's bonus regulations. Bonuses at YOUPLUS are based on so-called balanced scorecards. These are target agreements which YOUPLUS concludes annually with the employees. These target agreements contain equal numbers of company targets and individual employee targets, from whose respective degrees of achievement the overall degree of target achievement and thus the extent of bonus entitlement for the individual employees is calculated.

An important goal of YOUPLUS is to ensure the widest possible involvement of employees in the issue of sustainability risks and to create broad awareness of the ESG risks YOUPLUS is exposed to. Therefore, YOUPLUS has decided that one of the business objectives to be defined within the balanced scorecard will relate to ESG/sustainability risks to ensure that employees adequately consider ESG/sustainability risks as part of their ongoing task performance. In addition, YOUPLUS' internal Remuneration Policy states that the Remuneration Committee of the Company shall regularly ensure that at all levels of the hierarchy, any remuneration incentives that could lead employees to inconsiderate ESG/sustainability risk-taking are avoided.

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