The Generali Group’s investment policy adheres firstly to the principles of safety and reliability of the issuer: speculative investments are refused and great care is taken to
avoid investments with a high risk of any type, including environmental and social
risk. Prudent investment management and the right balance between risk and medium-to-long-term
returns are the foundations of the capital and financial solidity that has always
been a feature of the Group.
The Group knows that, as an institutional investor, it has an important role
to play in protecting the environment, respecting human rights and improving society
as a whole. That is why for years it has taken steps to influence the conduct
of the issuing companies in which it invests.
As known, in 2006 the Group decided to adopt the ethical guidelines of the Norwegian
Government Pension Fund - Global and, more specifically, to exclude from its own
investment universe all companies excluded from that of the Fund. Also following
changes made to the ethical criteria applied by the Fund - in particular, the
negative screening a priori of all tobacco producers - in 2010 the Group decided
to stop precisely replicating the criteria and exclusions of the Fund. This decision
was also influenced by the need to assess how investments in companies which are
not monitored by the Norwegian Fund (on account of the Fund not investing in them)
conform to the ethical guidelines.
In June, the Group signed up to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) backed by the UN. Then the Group has defined its own ethical guidelines which respect the aforementioned principles. However, the continuity of the
criteria previously applied is ensured by the fact that also the Norwegian Government
Pension Fund – Global signed up to the PRI.
In adopting the ethical guidelines, the Group not only aims to avoid the risk
of contributing indirectly to serious acts against humanity and/or the environment,
but - as an institutional investor - it pursues the goal of inducing responsible
behaviour under a socio-environmental profile among issuing companies.
A management system has been defined, in which is outlined an exclusion procedure for those companies
that do not respect the Group’s ethical guidelines. A correct implementation of
these guidelines is ensured by the Council on Ethics, a consultative body comprising Group heads of the departments most involved
in investments and two external academics.
The ethical guidelines are applied to all direct investments in portfolios where the investment risk is borne by the Group, thus applying
to both the investments of the Group own assets and resources upholding the Group’s
commitment to policyholders.
The system provides for constant monitoring of investments, including checks designed to prevent the acquisition of securities
issued by excluded companies, and a half-yearly report to the Corporate Centre’s
Group Risk Management service.
