New Research Center investigates sustainability issues

ASR Nederland N.V. (a.s.r.) and the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) are jointly opening an independent research centre: the Research Centre for Sustainable Investments & Insurance (RCSII). Over the next six years, UvA scientists will conduct research into various sustainability issues within the financial sector. With this collaboration, a.s.r. is investing in the further development of knowledge in the field of ESG issues. This fits the ambition to ultimately accelerate the path to a sustainable and liveable world.

The RCSII is a collaborative initiative of a.s.r. and the FEB of the UvA. The centre aims to answer questions related to sustainable investment and insurance. Among other things, the research focuses on quantifying climate risks for investors and insurers and on possibilities for detecting ‘green washing’. RCSII thereby aims to contribute to finding innovative solutions to sustainability issues relevant to insurers, financial institutions, regulators and society.

Patrick Klijnsmit, director of a.s.r. asset management: ‘a.s.r. is among the best performing companies worldwide in the area of sustainability. At the same time, there are still a lot of ESG issues we are working on; for example, ESG data is often still too unstructured and the amount of ESG data available is increasing rapidly. Alternative and innovative solutions are needed to process and analyse this data. The collaboration with the UvA aims to contribute to solving these kinds of sustainability issues, enriching the knowledge and opportunities of companies operation in the industry.’

Cees Diks, Professor of Data Analysis and Economic Statistics, Director of the RCSII: ‘The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration is an international leader in terms of research in the field of sustainable investment, (behavioural) economics and AI. The social challenges with regard to sustainability, including the energy transition and the transition to a circular economy, and the corresponding urgency, are such that we want to strengthen this research even further. The collaboration with a.s.r. gives us the opportunity to have additional researchers work on these important social themes, while making full use of a.s.r.’s domain knowledge. The results of the research will contribute to finding solutions to these social issues.

The RCSII is an independent scientific centre. The researchers are appointed to the faculty and determine the content of the research. The research is done according to the Code of Scientific Integrity, which means it is conducted independently and impartially by the FEB researchers at the centre. The findings are made publicly available.