Infrastructure Investments
When implementing infrastructure projects, Swiss Life Asset Managers takes economic, ecological and social factors as well as corporate management aspects into account throughout the entire life cycle.
Swiss Life Asset Managers recognises the importance of infrastructure for a sustainable future and is therefore committed to comprehensive ESG integration. The due diligence process uses a systematic ESG questionnaire developed in-house to assess 12 ESG themes and provide an aggregated ESG score. This allows for a differentiated analysis that is reflected in all investment recommendations. Following an investment, ESG performance is continuously improved through annual monitoring and specific ESG action plans for each investment.
Examples from the portfolio illustrate how Swiss Life Asset Managers actively implements sustainability in the areas of infrastructure:
1. Renewable energies and decarbonisation
In the area of renewable energies, the Swiss Life Asset Managers portfolio is actively making a contribution towards the energy transition. Investments include a variety of projects to generate electricity and heat from sustainable sources such as solar and wind power. The infrastructure portfolio’s investments, for example, generated a total of around 3136 GWh of electricity from renewable energy sources in 2023. Of this, 3045 GWh was attributable to infrastructure equity investments1 and 91 GWh to infrastructure debt investments2. This corresponds to the annual consumption of almost 896 000 households3 and helps to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions.
2. Protecting biodiversity and conserving resources
Infrastructure projects can have a considerable impact on the environment, which is why Swiss Life Asset Managers focuses on incorporating biodiversity measures when expanding projects such as motorways or wind farms. This, for example, includes taking into consideration measures to reduce damage to local ecosystems. By integrating biodiversity criteria into project planning and implementation at an early stage, Swiss Life Asset Managers helps infrastructure and nature to coexist.
1 Renewable energy production was reported by the infrastructure equity portfolio companies and weighted in proportion to Swiss Life Asset Managers’ investment as at 31.12.2023
2 Renewable energy production was reported by the infrastructure debt portfolio companies and weighted according to Swiss Life Asset Managers’ share of the companies’ value as at 31.12.2023.
3 The calculation is based on an estimated annual electricity consumption of 3500 kWh per household, which was the average household consumption in 2022 according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
3. Decarbonisation in diversified infrastructure projects
In addition to power generation, Swiss Life Asset Managers’ investments focus on wide-spread decarbonisation across a wide range of infrastructure sectors. In the areas of transport, data infrastructure and supply networks, the company relies on innovative technologies and measures to reduce CO2 emissions. For example, Swiss Life Asset Managers is committed to low-emission transport systems and the expansion of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles so as to improve environmentally-friendly mobility options. In terms of digital infrastructure, Swiss Life Asset Managers attaches importance to energy-efficient data centres and modern cooling technologies that minimise energy consumption. Through these various measures, Swiss Life Asset Managers is supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy and laying the foundation for sustainable infrastructure development that meets future environmental requirements
In a changing world, climate change and growing social demands are key challenges that Swiss Life Asset Managers is actively addressing. The company’s ESG approach includes the regular use of science-based climate risk tools to analyse the potential physical climate risks for assets. In addition, Swiss Life Asset Managers is actively committed to promoting Swiss Life’s sustainability targets, for example by holding regular board meetings and working closely with the portfolio companies’ management teams when infrastructure investments are made. The aim is to share best practices and further develop ESG strategies in a targeted manner.
Swiss Life Asset Managers aims to create a sustainable basis for future generations through ESG-oriented infrastructure investments, while at the same time securing attractive returns for its investors.