Net impact of Sampo Group
At the end of 2020, Sampo Group measured the Group’s net impact using Upright Project’s net impact model. The model measures a company’s positive and negative impacts on the society, knowledge, health, and environment. The aim was to understand the net sum of the costs and gains created by Sampo Group.
The scope of the study was Sampo Group (If, Topdanmark, Hastings, and Mandatum Life) excluding Sampo plc, investments, and associated companies. The size of the different Group companies was taken into account when calculating Sampo Group’s net impact.
The net impact is not static, and even small impacts can be accentuated due to changes in the world or stakeholder values.
Results of the Analysis
The analysis highlighted that with insurance services, a large portion of the impact is driven by the industries, services and products being enabled.
Society: Certain basic insurance services such as home and health insurance are considered a crucial part of societal infrastructure as they allow people to feel secure about their assets and well-being. Additionally, Sampo Group contributes through paying taxes and providing employment.
Knowledge: Human capital is a limited resource in Upright’s model. Sampo Group’s negative impact in the knowledge category is due to the use of scarcely available human capital in the form of highly skilled employees. On the positive side, the positive knowledge creation and distribution are impacts of risk and loss prevention consulting.
Health: Sampo Group contributes to the prevention of diseases through the provision of health insurance. The increase in meaning and joy stems from the peace of mind provided by insurance services in general.
Environment: All businesses cause some emissions. While Sampo Group’s services themselves do not use many environmental resources, the company inherits some of the negative environmental impacts of the energy-intensive industries it helps enable. A focus on specific types of insurance drives the development of net impact over time.
Net Impact Profile of Sampo Group, 2020
Changes in the results when stress-testing under different global scenarios
Even if a company makes no changes internally, the net impact may be altered due to external changes. As a part of the analysis, Sampo Group’s net impact was tested against three global scenarios: rapid warming, digital leaps, and pandemics. Scenario modelling showed that Sampo Group’s net impact was relatively resistant to the hypothesized scenarios. Only within the rapid warming scenario does Sampo Group’s net impact score drop.
Net Impact Profile of Sampo Group Under Different Global Scenarios, 2020
Details about the scenarios
Rapid warming scenario: The equilibrium climate sensitivity would turn out to be at the high end of the range estimate by IPCC and this would quadruple the damages caused by global warming. The economic cost of GHG emissions and the benefits of GHG emission reductions caused by the private sector globally would be pronounced by 4 times. The economic costs related to biodiversity and freshwater use would be pronounced by 2 times, given that they are highly correlated with increases in GHG emissions. The global markets of low-carbon technologies and renewable energy sources would double, while the global economy would grow 2 per cent per annum.
Digital leaps scenario: The global digitalization, AI, and automatization accelerate significantly, and jobs estimated by OECD to be at high risk of being automated would be lost, representing 46 per cent of all jobs. Both growth and economic benefits created by knowledge intensive companies would outpace the rest of the economy. Jobs estimated by OECD to be at high risk of being lost would be lost without replacement, reducing companies' jobs-related economic benefits in proportion to jobs lost and knowledge-related economic benefits that the private sector creates would be pronounced by 2 times. The global markets of products and services building knowledge infrastructure would grow twice as quick as the rest of the economy and hence double by 2030.
Pandemics scenario: Changes witnessed during the global COVID-19 crisis in 2020 become a continuing reality rather than an individual shock. Preventing and treating diseases takes a larger role in society and revenue gains and losses reported in certain industries during the COVID-19 crisis remain permanent. Modern knowledge infrastructure plays a critical role in making work and social interaction possible. Both costs and benefits that the private sector globally creates related to treating and preventing diseases would be pronounced by 2 times, the benefits relating to knowledge infrastructure would be pronounced by 2 times, and revenue gains and losses that have been reported as a result of current COVID-19 crisis would remain permanent, while the global economy would contract by 5 per cent by 2030.