Priority No. 3: control the local impact
Local impact
Local employment
CNP Assurances has been providing employment in its host regions for close to a century: 91% of CNP Assurances employees work at either the Paris, Arcueil or Angers facilities. Expatriate workers represent 0.5% of headcount at foreign subsidiaries. These companies also participate in their local job markets, including for senior management positions: at 31 December 2015, 73% of Executive or Management Committee members had been hired locally.
CNP Assurances is a founding member of the Entrepreneurs de la Cité foundation. In addition, the new focus of CNP Assurances’ sponsorship – supporting the inclusion of young people in education and civic service – and the partnership established with Our Neighbourhoods Have Talent (NQT) offer practical solutions in finding jobs. Similarly, the Caixa Seguradora group has for several years been organising expression and entrepreneurship workshops for young people from disadvantaged areas (1,700 in 2014 and 2015). Its events and discussion groups attracted nearly 14,000 participants in 2014. In 2015, the Company established a partnership with various Brazilian institutions to support small and microenterprises.
Lastly, and less directly, several insurance products include assistance in finding work. Examples include, in France, an unemployment insurance product with a reduced premium or advisory services to help the policyholder find a new job and, in Brazil, the job search support service offered by Caixa Seguradora.
Impact as an insurer and long-term investor
By making its products widely accessible, in terms of both affordability and medical screening, the Group is helping to combat financial exclusion. These topics, which are an essential part of the Group’s CSR approach, are discussed further in “Priority No.1: promote access to insurance” on page 9.
With over €300 billion in investments, CNP Assurances plays a major role in financing the economies of it host countries.
All sectors of the economy receive support to foster long-term development. CNP Assurances promotes Corporate Social Responsibility among the companies in the portfolio, through its policy of being a responsible investor and shareholder (see “For a sustainable economy” on page 15). Similarly, Caixa Seguradora’s financial investments are carried out entirely in Brazil.
Initiatives to support local communities
The Group’s entities also contribute to resolving current social issues. For example:
- Filassistance’s assistance and prevention services meet the needs of people made vulnerable by age, disability or illness (see “Promoting good health” on page 11);
- the Caixa Seguradora group actively helps local communities, with programmes such as Jovem de Expressao, which is supporting human development during the current period of demographic and epidemiological transition in Brazil (see www.jovemdeexpressao.com.br). Through this campaign, the Group seeks to reduce violence by fostering access to jobs, and to cut exposure to sexually transmitted diseases among young people in the surrounding region, in partnership with local cultural centres. This programme was acknowledged in 2010 for its innovative character, and received an award for its actions in the fight against AIDS/HIV in 2015. These initiatives were shared internationally in 2015 at the World Congress against Crime in Doha and a conference on sex education in the United States;
- in 2014, CNP Assurances invested in DomusVi, a major provider of residential and home care services for the elderly.
Lobbying
Group companies participate in their local insurance industry’s professional bodies and the international subsidiaries also attend events organised by the local French consulate, but they do not conduct any lobbying per se. The Group helps to address the challenges facing society by contributing to research and discussion, notably on the topics of retirement and long-term care in France.
CNP Assurances never acts alone. It systematically acts through industry organisations, in particular the FFSA and European bodies in the insurance sector. Experts sit on its specific committees. Since January 2015, the Director of Sustainability at CNP Assurances has chaired the Sustainable Development Committee of the AFA (association combining the FFSA and the Association of Mutual Insurance Companies).
CNP Assurances is involved in the Paris Europlace SRI Commission, and is also a member of ORSE, a French CSR think-tank, and its Finance Club, which brings together various stakeholders (NGOs, unions and trade associations).
By way of illustration, CNP Assurances took an active part in the development of the “Declaration of the actors of the Paris financial centre on climate change” signed by seven associations, including ORSE, Paris Europlace and the AFA, in 2015.
None of the Group’s entities makes donations to political parties. In countries where such donations are not illegal, subsidiaries, such as CNP Assurances Compañia de Seguros, specifically prohibit them in their code of ethics.
Corporate philanthropy and outreach partnerships
Corporate philanthropy operations are carried out in partnership with non-profit organisations following calls for projects. In France, some projects are partly driven by employees, or by higher education institutions. Employees in Brazil and Italy take part in organising corporate philanthropy initiatives. Furthermore, the Caixa Seguradora Institute, which manages the philanthropic work of the Brazilian group, has cooperation agreements with UNODC and UNESCO as well as service agreements with the NGO Iniciativa Verde.
The subsidiaries are involved in many philanthropy programmes, essentially social ones: CNP Partners sponsors a solidarity association, CNP Assurances Compañia de Seguros undertook to assist a disadvantaged community through its “Multiplicar” programme in 2015, and CNP Cyprus Insurance Holdings supports local actions in the fields of fire and accident prevention. A high level of cultural and artistic patronage completes the many actions taken by Caixa Seguradora.
Specific initiatives
- Training/research:
CNP Assurances maintains close relations with ENASS, France’s leading business school specialised in the insurance sector. It also finances training centres and apprenticeship centres (CFAs) such as IFPASS and ADAPT, and helps schools through the apprenticeship tax. As part of its philanthropic activities, CNP Assurances finances several research chairs, including the Risk Foundation’s “Demographic Transitions, Economic Transitions” chair. It is also supporting Institut Europlace de Finance in the creation of a research initiative devoted to long-term asset allocation. In 2015, CNP Assurances also supported a 3D cardiac imaging technology research project that will ultimately help develop faster and more effective diagnostic tools in oncology, cardiology and neurology.
La Banque Postale Prévoyance has undertaken to start supporting in 2016 a research chair entitled “Dependence of the Elderly” created by the Médéric Alzheimer Foundation in partnership with the Paris School of Economics.
- Integration:
The CNP Assurances Group has a long history of introducing young people to the world of work. At the end of 2015, CNP Assurances had 101 employees on combined work-study or apprenticeship contracts, as well as 194 interns and 195 young people on insertion contracts.
Since 2015, CNP Assurances has also supported Our Neighbourhoods Have Talent (NQT), an association that aims to foster informal exchanges between young graduates from priority neighbourhoods or disadvantaged backgrounds. Over 20 CNP Assurances employees voluntarily and willingly work with the association to help these young people find employment. CNP Assurances is also a founding member of the Entrepreneurs de la Cité foundation, and co-insures the entrepreneurs helped by the foundation. The Group is also involved in the Cités Partenaires II Business Angels investment fund dedicated to helping entrepreneurs from disadvantaged areas.
The Caixa Seguradora group is heavily involved in the Jovem de Expressao programme (see “Local impact”), and signed a cooperation agreement with UNESCO in 2011 to develop community-based communication and promote youth health initiatives as part of this outreach programme.
CNP Assurances Corporate Foundation
CNP Assurances made a significant commitment in 2015 in favour of public health through its corporate foundation. It has a multi-year €4 million programme devoted exclusively to the projects it supports in two areas:
- a foundation aimed at helping to reduce social inequalities in healthcare:
By promoting prevention and better health and acting on its social determinants, the Foundation aims to help promote better living and health among young people at risk of social vulnerability. In this context, the Foundation has adopted a dynamic approach to the joint development of national projects with partner organisations such as the Civic Service Agency (Agence du Service Civique) and the Alliance for Education (Alliance pour l’Éducation).
- a foundation committed to the treatment of cardiac arrest:
Since 2009, the CNP Assurances Corporate Foundation has initiated and provided support for projects emanating from French local authorities wishing to instal defibrillators in public places and to provide first aid training to larger numbers (financing the implementation of more than 3,000 defibrillators and raising people’s awareness of the importance of first aid in more than 2,200 cities and towns).
- a foundation close to CNP Assurances employees:
The CNP Assurances Corporate Foundation also calls for projects in which CNP Assurances employees are personally involved (such as projects in the areas of social inequalities in respect of healthcare or disability).
Human rights
The guiding principles of the Global Compact
In line with the 2003 pledge to uphold the UN Global Compact, CNP Assurances ensures that each local organisation complies with human rights laws and regulations. Following the lead of CNP Assurances Compañia de Seguros and Caixa Seguradora, CNP UniCredit Vita also pledged to uphold the Compact in 2010. The Caixa Seguradora group commissions annual CSR audits by Ethos to verify compliance with the Global Compact principles.
Each year, these companies reaffirm their commitment to upholding the Compact’s principles and encourage their asset managers and suppliers to follow suit.
This commitment is reflected in the integration of environmental, social and governance criteria into financial asset management strategies. Respect for human rights has been one the criteria used to select equity and bond investments, as well as to determine “sensitive countries” since 2014. In line with its commitment as a responsible insurer and investor, and its status as a public company, CNP Assurances has drawn up a list of prohibited countries covering all of its activities, extending beyond the list of countries prohibited as part of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing or non-cooperation in tax matters to include countries identified as tax havens based on the Tax Justice Network indices and those posing serious problems with regard to democracy, human rights and corruption, as determined by Freedom House and Transparency International.
A message communicated to stakeholders
The signing of the Principles for Responsible Investment reinforces CNP Assurances’ commitment, notably among issuers and companies of which it is a shareholder.
The signing of the French Union of Advertisers’ Charter on Responsible Communication confirms and promotes responsible communication by developing and implementing fair and ethical practices, including respect for diversity and a commitment to respect customers’ private data when using it for marketing and commercial purposes. CNP Assurances discloses details of actions implemented each year.
In addition, in supplier relations, the standard CSR clause in CNP Assurances’ purchase contracts stipulates that the supplier must undertake to combat human rights violations, notably by upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the conventions of the International Labour Organization.
The Human Resources Intranet provides information for CNP Assurances employees about their rights, and includes sections on the collective bargaining agreement, social dialogue, professional diversity and stress management. A union section on the Intranet allows continuous communication from the unions to staff.
Dedicated procedures
All of the subsidiaries share the four overriding principles of respect for human rights, freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, long-term support for employees and the promotion of equal opportunity. Each subsidiary submits an annual report on their CSR performance to the parent company, with a special focus on these fundamental criteria.
Neither CNP Assurances nor the Group’s subsidiaries have recourse to forced or child labour. The Group pays particularly close attention to this issue in its purchasing policy (see “Priority No.2: be a responsible purchaser” on page 19) and in its property management processes.
CNP Assurances Group’s procedures to guarantee respect for civil and political rights include internal codes and standard operating procedures, agreements on union rights, and data protection procedures.