Media Contacts:
Andrea Ranger, Shareholder Advocate, aranger@greencentury.com, 781-349-2813
Mark Morgenstein, Media Relations Director, mmorgenstein@greencentury.com, 678-427-1671
Boston, February 22, 2023 – In response to Green Century° re-filing of a shareholder proposal in December, Chubb Limited, the world’s largest commercial property and casualty insurer, has once again asked the SEC for permission to block the proposal from its proxy ballot. In 2022, Green Century filed a virtually identical proposal asking the company to stop underwriting new coal, oil and methane gas projects. The SEC denied Chubb’s request. Subsequently, the proposal went to a vote at Chubb’s 2022 annual general meeting and garnered the support of 19.4% of the shareholder votes cast.
Like most U.S. property and casualty insurers, Chubb lags behind its European peers in adopting meaningful exclusions. Despite the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and constraints on fossil fuel supply, a number of European property and casualty insurers now exclude more oil and methane gas development in their fossil fuel underwriting. By contrast, in January 2022, a global NGO insurance campaign identified Chubb as a major underwriter of South American offshore oil and gas drilling projects, providing Brazil’s national oil company coverage for 60% of its general civil liability and 50% of its transport-related risks. This state-owned Brazilian company has the fifth-largest documented oil and gas expansion plans of any oil and gas company in the world.
“It boggles the mind to think that an insurance company would willingly create risk for itself and its shareholders by supporting new fossil fuel supply,” said Green Century Funds President Leslie Samuelrich. “We have to transition away from fuels that create carbon pollution and drive global warming. And let me be clear: We’re not asking Chubb to summarily cancel existing contracts. We’re asking Chubb to be more forward-thinking about a slice of its business and phase out of underwriting new fossil fuel projects. It’s a low bar to clear considering the existential risk of climate change.”
Chubb argued to the SEC that Green Century’s proposal should be excluded because it probes too deeply into matters of a complex nature upon which shareholders, as a group, would not be in a position to make an informed judgment.
“Chubb’s argument seems to underestimate the intelligence of its shareholders,” said Green Century Shareholder Advocate Andrea Ranger. “I’m sure many are able to come to the fairly obvious conclusion that insurance policies enabling new coal, oil and gas supplies are fueling increasingly severe climate change impacts. It’s not rocket science.”
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About The Green Century Funds
°Green Century Capital Management, Inc. (Green Century) is the investment advisor to the Green Century Funds (The Funds). The Green Century Funds are one of the first families of fossil fuel free mutual funds in the United States. Green Century Capital Management hosts an award-winning and in-house shareholder advocacy program and is the only mutual fund company in the U.S. wholly owned by environmental and public health nonprofit organizations.
*As of December 31, 2022, Chubb Limited comprised 0.00%, 0.55%, and 0.00% of the Green Century Balanced Fund, the Green Century Equity Fund, and the Green Century International Index Fund, respectively. As of the same date, other securities mentioned were not held in the portfolios of any of the Green Century Funds. References to specific securities, which will change due to ongoing management of the Funds, should not be construed as a recommendation by the Funds, their administrator, or their distributor.
You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please visit www.greencentury.com, email info@greencentury.com, or call 1-800-934-7336. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.
A sustainable investment strategy which incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.
Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic and political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to a variety of risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation risk.
This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.
The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 235 W Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212. 2/23