Best in Taiwan, Best for the World
As the largest financial group in Taiwan with over USD$400 billion, Cathay Financial Holdings’ customers represent 63% of Taiwan’s population. We are also one of the most prominent institutional investors in Asia as we have also expanded into Greater China as well as operating from 9 out of 10 ASEAN countries.
Cathay Financial Holdings strives to further empower the resilience of relevant stakeholders, sectors, and the country as part of the greater macro-environment, through proactive engagement with partners from a wide spectrum of industries, providing environmental and social sustainability as foundation to align with SDGs as well as the Paris Agreement as targets.
Our sustainable performance has also been recognized, as we had been included in the DJSI Emerging Markets Index and the DJSI World Index for 6 and 3 consecutive years respectively. In 2020, Cathay Financial Holdings were ranked third among the insurance sector in the world, and the first in Taiwan, while scoring full points for relevant core financial competencies such as sustainable finance, sustainable insurance, and financial inclusion, as well as other themes such as materiality, policy influence, and environmental & social reporting weighing over 30% of total scores.
Embracing International Framework to Drive Sustainable Finance Best-Practice
We are the first in Taiwan to adopt of Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Principles of Sustainable Insurance (PSI), Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), and Equator Principles (EP), and have aligned these international frameworks with our core financial functions in insurance, banking, and asset management, and disclose relevant implementation reports.
Since 2014, Cathay Financial Holdings had established clear definitions of 5 thematic investment based on international framework – Low-carbon, Infrastructure, Aging Society & Health, Community & Inclusive Finance, and Water Resource, with total investment up to USD$45 billion as end of 2020, this not only helps drive the market towards a sustainable economy, but also helps various sectors to obtain a clearer transition pathway.
We support renewable energies as they provide a transition path for the electricity utility sector. Cathay Financial Holdings is the first financial institution to provide funding to the first ever solar power plant project and offshore wind farm project in Taiwan; Cathay Life Insurance and Cathay Venture Capital both invest in green energy; Cathay United Bank offers finance to green energy projects; Cathay General Insurance issues protection policy to green energy projects, and Cathay Securities underwrites green energy operators. We as a financial group are dedicated to develop clean energy as the cornerstone to a Net-Zero economy.
Leveraging Engagement to Collaborate Net-Zero Synergy
As a financial institution, we position ourselves as enablers of a comprehensive value chain. Cathay Financial Holdings also has the responsibility to act as stabilizer for the economy, meaning we must ahead of our time and work with forward-looking mentality. Therefore, we place significant emphasis on corporate engagement, as we believe our role as a financial service provider goes beyond being a responsible institution, and we proactively engage our investee companies to drive various sectors towards a Net-Zero economy.
This is precisely why we have participated in multiple international engagement initiatives, in order to leverage our fellow institutional investors to collaborate in helping different sectors to take on further commitments to Net-Zero business models. As the current Chair of Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), the purpose of engagement to allow international investors to gain forward-looking insights in climate change, and help the Asian market to prioritize mitigating climate change as a total solution.
At Cathay Financial Holdings, our definition of corporate sustainability is to be responsible for all relevant stakeholders, and maintain accountability for our business decisions. As a financial institution, it is vital to foresee future needs for our clients, and it is our role to empower our clients with resilience to expedite a sustainable value chain. Climate change is an imminent threat, and Net-Zero is closely correlated to business survival. This is why we commit to achieve Net-Zero by 2050.
