JUST GROUP PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2021
SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT STRATEGY
INVESTING THE JUST WAY
Just has a compelling purpose: we help people achieve a better later life, and this purpose shapes our approach to how we invest.
Just has developed a Sustainable Investment Framework, to formally integrate environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) considerations into the analysis and decision making processes that underpin the shape of our investment portfolio. Every existing investment and all new investments are reviewed to ensure that they meet our ESG criteria. This regular screening is now an integral part of the credit review process. INVESTMENT MODEL The long-term retirement income promises we make to our customers are backed by long-term income producing assets, which are split between liquid public investments and illiquid private investments. We nowmanage the majority of our public investments in-house. On the illiquid side these are split between the lifetime mortgages that we originate and manage ourselves and the other illiquids that include a diverse range of investments including infrastructure loans, private placements, commercial real estate mortgages, ground rents and income strips. Currently these account for £3.0bn or 12% of our £25bn investment portfolio – but this will increase substantially over time, and in 2021, 23% of our new investments were made into this segment. We have built a panel of 13 specialist external asset managers to source these assets, each carefully selected to focus on particular areas of expertise. The opportunities originated by the managers are then assessed by our in-house investment teamwho select the most suitable investments to pass through our internal screening process. GREEN AND SOCIAL INVESTMENT CREDENTIALS, AND A COMPELLING PURPOSE Just’s ESG credentials are already firmly established as a member of the FTSE4Good index series. The Group has been a signatory of the UN Principles of Responsible Investment (“UNPRI”) since September 2018, becoming the first UK asset owner to do so. During 2020, we developed a Sustainable Bond Framework (updated September 2021), which received a second party opinion from Sustainalytics, on the framework’s environmental and social credentials. SUSTAINABILITY BOND Just Group became the first UK and European insurer to issue a Sustainability Restricted Tier 1 bond. The Group has provided a commitment to invest the gross issuance proceeds of £325m in eligible green and social assets. When combined with the 2020 Green Bond commitment, the Group has committed to allocating a minimum of £575m towards these eligible assets before September 2024. Given the predictable nature of guaranteed income cash flows, life insurers such as Just are ideal providers of long-term project finance. GREEN AND SOCIAL INVESTMENTS During 2021, we made strong progress to originate green and social assets via our “manager of managers” investment model. We are delighted to complete the remaining Green Bond commitment a little over a year post issuance, with eligible green assets originated during the year totalling £110m. This comprised further renewable energy investments via solar projects in the UK, US, Spain and Germany, and financing the retro-fit of an existing commercial building in Reading. As an incentive during the design phase, we collaborated with our asset originator to include a coupon step down feature and expect to achieve a green building
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