Sustainability as a foundation of the business model

Global warming is already changing the risk landscape, says Chairman of the Managing Board Hartwig Löger. At VIG, he values inter-company collaboration based on partnerships.

In July 2023, you took over as Chairman of the Managing Board and CEO of VIG. Where will VIG go under your leadership?

Hartwig Löger: The members of the Managing Board are well attuned to each other and have already been working together for a number of years now. We have prepared the transition thoroughly. Within the Managing Board, I have had a say in many of the projects and strategies pursued in the last few years and, of course, I support VIG’s principles. That includes, as the covers of our current reports show, the commitment to diversity within our Group: We create added value through diversity. This has always been the case, and we will preserve this. VIG is not a group company that is managed in a purely centralised manner. We act as a consciously decentralised Group that empowers its Group companies to make autonomous decisions so that local market circumstances and customer needs can be addressed quickly and individually. A strategy that has proven successful for many years. We want to strengthen our Group’s characteristic diversity of innovations and ideas, and make the cooperation between the companies even closer. At the same time, we are responding to current trends and challenges by implementing the VIG 25 strategic programme, which has been developed in collaboration with the CEOs of the Group companies.

How do you ensure that the companies plot a common course and that diversity creates added value for the Group?

Löger: VIG Holding is responsible for setting and coordinating a strategy and ensuring that the companies stay on track. Of course, the VIG 25 strategic programme is applicable to the entire Group. In 2023, we created the new CO3 department, which aims to intensify the interaction between the Group companies: the abbreviation stands for “Communication, Collaboration & Cooperation”. The CO3 team will make the relevant activities visible and ensure a more comprehensive dialogue of best and worst practices. I see a lot of potential here to creating added value for our Group through greater dialogue and bundling of activities.

What significance does sustainability have in your activities?

Löger: I consider sustainability to be one of the most important tasks in our society in general, and in the insurance industry in particular. The consequences of global warming are already influencing the risk landscape, and they will be even more noticeable in the future.

How is VIG responding to this?

Löger: Together with the Group companies – and on the basis of the VIG 25 strategic programme – we have developed a new sustainability programme over the past two years. This programme allows us to further strengthen the position of sustainability as an integral part and fundamental element of our business model. We are aiming to achieve net zero by 2050 in the areas of asset management, underwriting and office operations, i.e. to not increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as a result of our activities. Specifically, and in addition to other actions, we finalised the new “Responsible investing” declaration in 2023, which includes new and enhanced sustainability criteria for investment activities. Another highlight from the reporting year came from our own office operations: The company headquarters at the Ringturm building in Vienna have met the requirements of the EU Taxonomy, so they have been officially recognised as environmentally and climate friendly.

What role does social sustainability play for VIG, alongside environmental aspects?

Löger: The Group has lived a culture of social responsibility and solidarity since its origins in the 19th century. This tradition continues in a modern context with the VIG 25 sustainability programme. Within the three spheres of impact of “Employees”, “Customers” and “Society”, we have defined priorities. Let me highlight our social commitment by way of example. For some time now, we have placed the spotlight on the need for such involvement through our Social Active Day. This initiative has now been expanded to include another area of action: We are aiming to promote risk literacy among the people in our markets. This is because a survey commissioned by us in the CEE region shows that a large proportion of the population is not seriously concerned with the significant risks associated with modern life. We see an urgent need for education and information to increase the population’s knowledge of risks.

How are you ensuring that the objectives of the VIG 25 sustainability programme are being implemented in practice?

Löger: In 2023, we established a Sustainability Office within VIG Holding. This office is responsible for coordinating sustainability activities across the Group. Since the reporting year we also have a sustainability committee, which is composed of the Deputy Chairman of the Managing Board, two other members of the Managing Board (CFRO and COO) and various heads of department within VIG Holding. The committee has an advisory function and serves as a link between the operational levels of the Group and the Managing Board, which has overall responsibility. This all means that VIG has both the culture and the necessary structures and processes for making a considerable contribution to a society and environment that is worth living in, both now and in the future.

Read more in our Sustainability Report 2023 👉 https://bit.ly/45e1Hz1

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