Insurance business and social sustainability: A proposal

Sustainability issues are emerging as a major focus for the insurance institutions, who have to face a number of challenges of the immediate future regarding environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, climate changes, and catastrophic events. Despite this, literature is still scarce. In this vein, our work contributes to the small but growing body of literature on sustainable finance insurances, by providing evidence of the positive role that insurance companies can play in realizing a more sustainable financial system. The study proposes an innovative securitized process, described as a financial cycle oriented to the achievement of the social objective of collective health. Sustainable instruments allow firms, insurance companies and investors to play a proactive role: virtuous companies, attentive to health protection of their employees, could benefit from premium discounts on the costs of insurance coverage for business risks. The analysis demonstrates how the securitization scheme supports projects with economic-social impact, underlining main actors’ roles, challenges, and opportunities for a sustainable future. Findings pave the way for designing new sustainable insurance solutions and have both practical and social implications.