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Climate change, conflict and gender inequality
Women affected by conflict are key to building climate resilience – Women for Women International calls for their meaningful inclusion at COP28.
3 December 2023
Major insurance companies have piled investments into the arms industry over recent months, according to new research.
The study looked at how insurance companies active in the UK are investing their money. It shows that they pumped millions more into firms involved in nuclear weapons, depleted uranium and white phosphorus immediately after Donald Trump was elected.
Earlier this month, the same researchers showed that companies active in the British insurance market actively increased their investments in firms involved in supplying Israel with military equipment over the last year.
‘The British insurance industry is profiting from violence and destruction.’
MONIKA NIELSEN
Researcher, Boycott Bloody Insurance
Insurance firms are major investors across the economy. The new report, Ensuring Destruction – the Insurance Industry and Controversial Weapons, from the campaign group Boycott Bloody Insurance, looks at how much of that money is invested in firms which are involved in or associated with various ‘controversial weapons’ – a category which includes white phosphorous, depleted uranium and nuclear weapons.
They found that major insurance companies channelled $260m more towards companies involved in the production of these weapons in December 2024 than they did in September 2024.
Among the group of companies assessed by the researchers – all major providers active in the UK market – investment in manufacturers of controversial weapons grew by 13% over the three-month period.
The British company, Aviva, increased its investment into companies which are involved in or associated with controversial weapons to £1.36bn, making it by far the biggest investor in these sorts of firm among the assessed insurers.
However, it’s not just Aviva that bet on growing global violence; Allianz, AXA and Zurich also grew their investments in these firms.
In many cases, the insurers are investing in these companies in direct contradiction to their own responsible investment policies.
The researchers also looked at which insurance companies were providing Employers’ Liability insurance for firms involved in or associated with controversial weapons, and discovered that all of the major insurers were.
‘Insurance companies are a vital part of the global financial system. Their investments help drive the economy. Without the insurance they provide, other companies can’t operate. And yet these major household brands are providing money and underwriting services to companies whose core business is mass slaughter, mutilation of children, and machines of devastation.
‘Often, these companies claim to have socially responsible investment policies, and yet they are using their customers’ money to prop up some of the least responsible firms on the planet, directly contradicting their own policies.
‘As global conflict and uncertainty escalate, these titans of the financial services sector are rushing money behind firms who will benefit from more conflict, more war and more chaos. We urgently need de-escalation of global violence, and are calling on businesses and organisations to boycott all insurance companies which invest in, and underwrite, firms involved in or associated with these controversial weapons.’
ANDREW TAYLOR
Boycott Bloody Insurance
This research comes on the back of another report, released earlier this year, which looked at the insurance industry’s involvement in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Entitled Ensuring Genocide – the Insurance Industry and Israel’s War Machine, the report found that major insurance companies active in the UK market have increased their investment in companies involved in Israel’s genocide in Gaza over the last year.
Insurers including Allianz, Aviva, AXA, Zurich and RSA collectively invested over $1.7 billion in companies supplying military equipment used by Israel since 07 October 2023.
The report also showed how these major insurance brands are profiting from the genocide themselves by underwriting the arms manufacturers who are supplying weapons to Israel.
‘Millions of people in the UK have been profoundly shocked by Israel’s genocide in Gaza. And they will be horrified to discover that the firms insuring their local councils, workplaces, places of worship or universities are the same companies funding and underwriting the production of the weapons Israel is using to blow up Palestinians’ homes, hospitals, schools and families. These firms don’t need to insure arms companies. We are calling on people to boycott them until they stop.’
MONIKA NIELSEN
Researcher, Boycott Bloody Insurance
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