Sustainability policy

Introduction

In this information document, we offer you an overview of how the investment advice provided by your KBC Insurance agent meets the IDD rules, what that means to you as a client and precisely what you can expect from your KBC Insurance agent and when.


Contents

  • What products can your KBC Insurance agent advise on?
  • What does product advice from your KBC Insurance agent consist of?
  • How does your KBC Insurance agent integrate sustainability risks in the investment advice?

For which types of investment product can you go to your KBC Insurance agent for advice?

Your KBC Insurance agent advises on savings and investment products offered by KBC Insurance. The big advantage of this approach is that your KBC Insurance agent only advises on products he or she knows well. More specifically, you can turn to your KBC Insurance agent for unit-linked life insurance (Class 23) and guaranteed-interest life insurance (Class 21) products.


What does product advice from your KBC Insurance agent consist of?

The advice your KBC Insurance agent will provide you on savings and investment-type insurance always takes the form of product advice.
Product advice consists of the following:
  • Advice on alignment with your risk profile, your protection and other needs, and the investment term
  • Evaluation of your knowledge and experience
  • Summary of the advice in the ‘Advisory Overview’
  • Advisory approach within profile approach: whenever advice is provided, the risks of the individual investment are considered
  • Buying and selling advice if you request it or on the agent’s initiative (e.g. based on suitability for the client or when an existing investment matures).
  • General explanation of the charges associated with the investment, prior to the transaction
  • No periodic assessments are performed of the suitability of your investments

Glossary

Level of knowledge and experience: your level of knowledge and experience concerning the investment product in which you want to invest. Our product knowledge and experience assessment is based on your answers to our questions on savings and investment-type insurance and your experience based on the transactions you have carried out in the relevant products during the past four years.
Advisory overview: a written statement of suitability which you receive when provided with advice. The document specifies how the advice provided meets your preferences and other characteristics.
Product rating: this is the rating of each investment product, determined on the basis of six parameters. These parameters provide a broad approach for assessing risks and result in a numerical score from 1 to 7. The higher the product rating, the higher the risk associated with the product.
Profile approach: the product rating of each investment may not be higher than the maximum rating permitted by your risk profile.


How your KBC Insurance agent integrates sustainability risks and takes due account of the main adverse effects on sustainability factors

Your KBC Insurance agent advises you exclusively on savings and investment-type insurance from KBC Insurance. There is no sustainable product offering at present, but the aim is to offer a selection of sustainable products in due course.

However, for all savings and investment-type insurance, KBC Insurance takes account of KBC group's general exclusion policy in its investment decisions. This stipulates that no investments may be made in companies that are involved in the tobacco or thermal coal industries, in the production and/or development of controversial weapons, in companies that contravene the principles of the UN Global Compact, or futures contracts on agricultural commodities. Any such companies are blacklisted and are not invested in. More specific information about these exclusions can be found at www.kbc.com