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VBDO spoke with Desiree Wareman, Manager Treasury & Asset Management, and Ruben Colen, Specialist Treasury & Asset Management, from Menzis about the process Menzis has set up to screen individual investments for sustainability. Please note: this article was published as part of the VBDO Benchmark on Responsible Investment by Insurance Companies in the Netherlands 2025.
How does Menzis approach the screening of individual investments?
Desiree Wareman: We initially started screening to give more substance to our efforts to align with the IRBC Agreement (IMVO covenant), and as part of our due diligence cycle, which is based on the OECD guidelines. The consultation we had with VBDO regarding the new benchmark methodology also motivated us to tackle this.
I still remember walking out of your office and saying to Ruben, “Well, I think we should highlight one company per investment category during each Investment Advisory Committee (red. Beleggingsadviescommissie) meeting to discuss together.” These case studies help connect our investments with Menzis’ top-down policy and examine how the policy impacts individual companies in our portfolio.
We also wanted to make the policy much more concrete and relatable for the Investment Advisory Committee. That was at least our initial goal, as well as to also ensure that our policy is actually being implemented. This seemed like a very pragmatic way to get a feeling of the companies in our investment portfolio. The outcomes of such a case study can then lead to the evaluation of our own policy and inspire the development of new policies. We’ve noticed this happening now that we’ve been working on it for a while.
Ruben Colen: Last year, Menzis decided to purchase ESG data ourselves. It was a good way to familiarise ourselves with the available sustainability data. The data provider offers ESG modules based on compliance with legislation and regulation, product involvements such as tobacco or weapons, and impact, especially for climate change.
We’re now working on the climate transition plan, so it’s helpful to have more insights per company into climate impact and things like SDG alignment. We have created a standard format for the case study for these companies. The format includes data from all ESG modules offered by the data provider, on the basis of which we developed our analysis model.
Why did you decide to purchase your own sustainability data?
Ruben Colen: We chose to purchase the sustainability data ourselves because it brings us closer to the investment portfolio: we can look things up faster and conduct deeper analysis. This is especially helpful considering new regulations like the EU Taxonomy and CSRD, where there’s a lot of reporting involved.
It’s also more convenient because we can act faster with the auditor since there are fewer intermediaries. We see this as well with the IRBC due diligence cycle, where we have to continually screen the investment portfolio to assess risks, and that’s just a bit easier when we have the data ourselves.
Desiree Wareman: We consider sustainability to be a core task of our investment policy, which means we also develop policies ourselves in consultation with a fiduciary manager and partly with asset managers. This way we have more influence, and we are able to better align the responsible investment policy with what is appropriate across the broader Menzis organisation.
If you have access to the data yourself, you can conduct an independent analysis and you have more control. It also helps with mandatory reporting and allows you to challenge other parties more effectively on sustainability.
Have there been any interesting findings from this process?
Ruben Colen: We’re currently working on a climate transition plan, and the data we now have direct access to supports this development. For example, we have data on physical risks, and also on transition risks and the extent to which a company is aligned with the Paris Agreement.
So now we’re figuring out how to use that data to develop better KPIs and align our investment portfolio with our ambitions on climate change.
Desiree Wareman: What added value does it have? Well, at the very least, insight into the activities of the companies in Menzis’ investment portfolio. For example, we conducted an analysis of a large multinational and discovered that part of their revenue comes from defence contracts. Without that analysis, we wouldn’t have known this directly. You simply learn what opportunities, risks and impact companies actually have, and that’s valuable in itself.
We can now also confirm whether the companies in Menzis’ portfolio align with our responsible investment policy, investment beliefs and strategy. That’s an important insight we can use for adjusting or creating a new policy. Now that we can also compare this data with that of the fiduciary manager, we’re more equipped to engage in discussions when there are discrepancies. We’ve already experienced that, and in those cases, we ended up calling the data provider.
Can any insurer get started with this?
Ruben Colen: Yes, although you need to take costs and capacity into account. It does take a lot of work to carry out such an analysis, although it gets easier the more you standardise things. But we’re still working on that; we’ve been doing this at Menzis for about a year now and are constantly working on streamlining the process to make it more efficient.
Desiree Wareman: Yes, I think any insurer can get started on a process like this. You can make an analysis as detailed and thorough as you want. Menzis has chosen to do this in-house, but I think an insurer could also ask the fiduciary manager or a sustainability advisor, “If I want to know more about the ESG risks and impact of company X, can you please show me how it looks in relation to our policy?” because that also gives insight into how the policy translates into the underlying companies in the portfolio. And that’s possible even if you don’t have your own data.
Our Investment Advisory Committee is really positive about these analyses we’ve done ourselves because it makes the opportunities, risks and impact of our portfolio much more tangible.
