Copenhagen, 12 April 2022 – Sustainability data provider Matter has been appointed by Singlife with Aviva, a financial services company headquartered in Singapore, to provide a comprehensive view of its sustainability performance. Matter’s leading ESG platform will help Singlife understand the sustainability impact and performance of its global investments.
Sustainable finance is a well-known concept in Europe, where the majority of Matter’s clients operate, and the concept is increasingly gaining momentum in Singapore and around the world. In light of this, Singlife is taking a decisive, industry-leading step to not only meet but exceed the expectations of regulators and discerning consumers.
Singlife’s Group Chief Investment Officer Kim Rosenkilde said, “We currently serve a significant proportion of Singapore’s population, so it is natural for us to act as more than an insurer or a financial services provider. We must be a responsible steward of the funds we manage. Gaining more insights into the sustainability profile of our investments is a key part of that stewardship”.
With Matter’s platform, Singlife will be able to monitor key environmental risks to its investments and, in future, present more extensive reports to the Monetary Authority of Singapore as part of its disclosure requirements. This aligns with Singlife’s commitment to create a positive impact and support Singapore’s commitment towards Net Zero by 2050.
“Monitoring, mitigating and disclosing various environmental risks in our investments is a complex task, requiring transparent data and precise analyses. Matter’s platform helps us gain some of these insights in a fast and transparent way. We see a big potential to enable ESG reporting in more of our services. We ultimately want to help our clients achieve financial freedom, and we also want to help them understand exactly where and how their money is being invested in”, says Rosenkilde.
“Compared to the European scene, ESG investing in Singapore is in an emerging and rapidly growing stage. We are seeing how companies like Singlife think beyond risk management and compliance, which is in line with our core belief at Matter - that sustainability and ESG insights need to be more transparent and intuitive, so that more people can use them to make decisions”, says Emil Fuglsang, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Matter.
Matter has worked with financial institutions in Singapore since 2020 and has been a part of several Danish delegations to the country, organised by Copenhagen Fintech and the Danish Embassy in Singapore. Copenhagen Fintech has initiated a ‘Sustainable Fintech Bridge’ between the Nordics and Singapore, to create a fast-track for Nordic sustainability-focused fintech companies to connect with leading financial institutions in Singapore. The appointment of Matter to support ESG insights to Singlife is an example of the potential for further sustainability-focused collaboration between the two regions.
Singlife recently announced a US$50 million investment in the Altrium Sustainability Fund I, a private equity fund of funds managed by Azalea Asset Management Pte Ltd. Azalea is owned by Temasek, a sovereign wealth fund located in Singapore. It enables institutional and other accredited investors to build an ESG-focused investment portfolio.
Earlier this year, Singlife co-seeded the Qblue Global Sustainable Leaders Fund launched by Copenhagen-based Qblue Balanced, which helps institutional investors achieve investment objectives by providing sustainable solutions to obtain more diversified and robust portfolios.
Singlife also invested in the CI Green Credit Fund by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which focuses on funding green energy infrastructure projects, such as solar power generation, onshore and offshore wind generation, and other renewable power generation assets like hydro power and geothermal power.
Singlife is proud to be a Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”) Supporter and is working to become a signatory of the UN Principles for Sustainable Insurance by Q4 2022.
For more information, please contact:
Benjamin Barnett Cruz Teng
Insights Lead Lead, Brand and Communications
Matter Singlife with Aviva
About Matter
Matter is a Copenhagen-based Fintech that offers an alternative to traditional ESG ratings. The company combines a modern technology platform and deep sustainability expertise to source and structure the collective wisdom and data sets from leading sustainability experts across the world. Matter offers its data and analytics solutions via an online platform that allows users to tap into deep and granular ESG insights on single company level, as well as on portfolio level. In 2020, Nasdaq invested in Matter and the companies formally partner on offering innovative ESG solutions to the financial industry.
About Singlife with Aviva
Singlife with Aviva is a leading homegrown financial services company, offering consumers a better way to financial freedom. Through innovative, technology-enabled solutions and a wide range of products and services, Singlife provides consumers control over their financial wellbeing at every stage of their lives. In addition to a comprehensive suite of insurance plans, employee benefits, partnerships with Financial Advisor channels and Bancassurance, Singlife offers investment solutions through its dollarDEX and Navigator platforms. The mobile-first Singlife Account – with a Singlife Debit Card – allows customers to save, spend, earn and be insured all in one app. Singlife with Aviva was formed by the merger of Aviva Singapore and Singlife. First announced in September 2020 and valued at S$3.2 billion, it was the largest insurance deal in Singapore and created one of the largest homegrown financial services companies in the republic.
Contact the Royal Danish Embassy in Singapore for more information about business opportunities and how Denmark seeks to inspire green transition in Southeast Asia:
Mark Edward Perry
Head of Trade at the Royal Danish Embassy in Singapore
Phone: +65 9088 5567
Email: markpe@um.dk