Active investment management

Zurich is an active investment manager that believes in a top-down approach to managing money, delivering long term value for members.

Market leading performance

Zurich has a track record of consistently out-performing our peers in the marketplace, irrespective of the asset allocation approach employed by competitors.* It is this out-performance that drives real value to members’ funds and has a material impact on the adequacy of the member’s pension pot.

Delivering better outcomes

Zurich Investments has a robust investment governance and oversight process which has contributed to delivering consistent long-term out-performance. We continually monitor the methodology to ensure that the funds continue to be one of the best performing multi-asset fund ranges in the Irish market. Zurich has a track record of out-performance over the last 30 years and it is this compounding that adds real value for pension scheme members.

This is illustrated by the following graph, which shows the additional value created at retirement by Member A in a Zurich Defined Contribution scheme, versus Member B, invested in a peer group average passively-managed scheme over the same period.

Source: Zurich Dynamic Fund v Peer Group Average Oct 1990 – Oct 2020. Starting salary €45,000 with 15% contribution. Indexation of 2.5%, AMC: 0.45%

Responsible Investment strategy

Zurich proactively integrate ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors across their investment funds and lifestyle strategies. The incorporation of ESG factors into the investment process is a key element of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) www.unpri.org, which the Zurich Insurance Group signed up to in 2012. Zurich is also an insurance industry leader of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

When investing responsibly, we want to do good naturally but we also want to do well in investment terms for our shareholders and customers.

When investing we aim to:

Create sustainable value for all our stakeholders
Focus on long-term success over short-term gains

Engagement and transparency

Active management is more than just active selection, it is also about the concept of active ownership. When Zurich engages with companies, they discuss financial and non-financial topics with them including ESG factors. As a responsible equity investor, Zurich has a clear voting policy and exercises these voting rights actively to ensure that companies are encouraged to focus on questions of long-term sustainability, corporate governance and other key ESG factors. Continued analysis and engagement are an integral part of Zurich’s investment process. Zurich Investments are transparent and fully publish their voting records on their website.