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iA Financial Group publishes its 2021 Sustainable Development Report

Quebec City,

News Release


Highlights:

  • Receipt of “carbon-neutral company” certification for a second consecutive year
  • Integration of the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and publication of a positioning statement on climate change
  • Development of training programs geared towards inclusive leadership
  • Introduction of an ESG criteron in the compensation of senior executives
  • Donations of over 7.5 million dollars to various social and community organizations or those working in health and education.

iA Financial Group is announcing the publication of its 2021 Sustainable Development Report on ia.ca (https://ia.ca/sustainable-development). This report, produced in electronic format only, shows the initiatives and achievements of the organization throughout 2021 in the environmental, social and governance-related (ESG) areas.

The fight against climate change
iA Financial Group has made the fight against climate change a priority. The organization has established a concrete strategy which integrates the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

This strategy includes:

  • Developing and disclosing a positioning statement on climate change
  • Creating a task force on climate change to conclude the For a carbon-free future project
  • Establishing, deploying and implementing an action plan to reduce our carbon footprint

Each of the three components of this strategy was deployed throughout the year.

In 2021, iA Financial Group released a total of 13,767 tons of GHG, the majority of which is from the energy consumption of its buildings. Working with Planetair, our partner in the fight against climate change, we have invested more than $187,600 in projects with global reach: a biomass project in Brazil and a biogas project in Thailand. This approach demonstrates our solidarity in terms of the environment and shows that the fight against climate change has no borders.

Our approach not only includes compensating for our residual GHG emissions but, more importantly, measures to reduce them at the source. With this in mind, iA Financial Group has committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 20% per employee by 2025.

Diversity and inclusion
2021 was a year of awareness and education regarding diversity and inclusion. Many activities in this vein took place throughout the year, for employees and managers alike. For example, all iA Financial Group managers completed training on unconscious biases and how to break or eliminate them.

Remember that the organization has committed to reaching the following gender equity targets:

  • Appointing women to senior management positions at iA Financial Group at a ratio of 40% to 60%
  • Achieving greater gender equity at the senior management level at iA Financial Group, with a women-to-men ratio of between 40% and 60% by 2025

We believe that these targets are gender inclusive and that no group will be perceived as being favoured over another.

ESG criteria in senior management compensation
At our 2019 annual general meeting, shareholders asked us to think about integrating ESG criteria in the compensation for senior executives. After a detailed analysis of practices in this regard in the benchmark market, we have made the decision to follow up on this request.

Therefore, in 2021, an ESG component was included in the variable compensation for senior executives, meaning when establishing their annual bonus. The ESG component retained is the net promoter score (“NPS”), which is a unit of measure that considers client satisfaction and that fits perfectly with the values and purpose of iA Financial Group.

By integrating this ESG measure in annual bonus plan for senior management, we made sure to create an additional link between senior management compensation and the importance of client satisfaction.

Philanthropy
Philanthropy is one of the vital components of the role of iA Financial Group and its subsidiaries on a social level, from a perspective of sustainable development and tangible support for communities.

In 2021, the Group donated over 7.5 million dollars to various social and community organizations that work in the fields of health and education.