Generali’s purpose, as one of the largest global insurance and asset management companies, is to enable people to shape a safer future by caring for their lives and dreams. More recently, as part of the initiatives for our 190th anniversary, we presented our flagship investment program “Fenice 190”, which aims to contribute to the relaunch of the European economy while putting sustainability at the core. To invest a total of €3.5 billion over the course of five years through a number of investment funds focusing on infrastructure, innovation and digitalization, SMEs, green housing, health care facilities and education. We have already deployed €1 billion in 2020. This also means developing the right tools to support companies in the face of the hardship they often have to endure in these cases. As an example, the lockdown and strict containment measures imposed by governments to tackle Covid-19 forced many SMEs to cease their activities and caused widespread cancellation of events and travel, which resulted in considerable business interruption losses that were largely uninsured or insured only partially.
From a technical point of view, pandemic coverages pose challenges to the basic principles of insurance such as diversification and mutualization of risks. In addition, there is no clear, predictable time limit on a pandemic: this means the potential loss could be infinite, and therefore uninsurable under the traditional insurance business model. Insurers can support the EU ambition to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent. However, to do so, it is key to ensure the right policy environment that can stimulate investments in long-term and sustainable projects. The idea is to consider separately “Long-term Green Bond Investments” with decreasing capital charges for longer holding periods. This would prevent in-and-out trading, thus favoring a long-term holding. Generali is ready to engage in public-private partnership that can help boost the recovery and make the European economy stronger, more resilient and more sustainable for many years to come.