Effects From ESG Scores on P&C Insurance Companies

Sustainability 2023, 15, 12644. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612644

Posted: 25 Jul 2023 Last revised: 23 Aug 2023

See all articles by Silvia Bressan

Silvia Bressan

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano - Faculty of Economics and Management

Date Written: July 14, 2023

Abstract

Insurers act as institutional investors and underwriters of risk, therefore improving their own environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance is important for the transmission of ESG values to all other economic sectors. We analyze ESG scores of worldwide Property and Casualty (P&C) insurers during 2012-2022, and show that more sustainable insurers have high operating leverage, although their combined ratios and z-scores reveal that they are financially stable. Additional results for the US subsample illustrate that stocks issued by sustainable insurers deliver positive excess returns. Overall, these findings suggest that sustainable practices are associated with the ability of insurers to execute business and create value. This is important for insurance managers, investors, and policy makers, as insurers play a prominent role in promoting economic growth and stability.

Keywords: Insurance, ESG, sustainability

JEL Classification: G22, G32

Suggested Citation

Bressan, Silvia, Effects From ESG Scores on P&C Insurance Companies (July 14, 2023). Sustainability 2023, 15, 12644. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612644 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4510931

Silvia Bressan (Contact Author)

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano - Faculty of Economics and Management ( email )

Universitaetsplatz
39100 Bozen-Bolzano (BZ), Bozen 39100
Italy

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
275
PlumX Metrics