Foresters approach to sustainability
How we are creating a better future together.
How we are creating a better future together.
Sustainability is about fulfilling people’s economic, social well-being and environmental needs now, without compromising future generations. This goes hand-in-hand with our purpose of enriching the well-being of families and communities. We’re here to protect what is important to you, while creating a better future, together. At Foresters, you, your family and your community are at the heart of our sustainability efforts, and it’s been that way for nearly 150 years. Moving forward into the future, we’re continually looking at how we can measure our success and help you do more good for the people and places that matter most.
“At Foresters, we are committed to sustainability to help create a better future. Our goal is to ensure we enrich the well-being of your families and communities. Our employees truly value giving back to their communities. I’m proud of the work we’ve done in the past to support sustainability and thrilled to look ahead to how Foresters sustainability strategy will contribute to cleaner, safer and healthier communities.”
Louis Gagnon,
Global President and CEO of Foresters Financial™
From our products to our culture, our sustainability efforts are a part of everything we do at Foresters. We care about how our insurance products and what we do in our own business add to a more sustainable future. At Foresters, concepts of sustainability, environmental consciousness and social responsibility are not just a trend. These concepts define us. Foresters has been a leader in sustainability for nearly 150 years and will continue to lead in the future.
That’s why we support the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a call to action for governments, businesses and societies to address today’s most pressing sustainable development issues. While each of these goals matters, we focus on three in particular. The first is goal three, good health and well-being; the second is goal 11, sustainable cities and communities; and the third is goal 13, climate action.
A look at how we are creating a better future together.
We are helping our members enhance their well-being, our employees belong, learn and thrive and our agents succeed. We want to help you, our members, employees and agents do more of the good you want to do.
So together, we can enrich the well-being of families and communities.
Each of these steps works towards supporting a more equitable world where people can live in dignity.
Find out more about each area.
A big part of our sustainability approach is to ensure we take the right steps in our day-to-day business, on the UN climate action goal and other sustainability issues.
From setting up more recycling and organic waste bins throughout our offices, using eco-friendly printer options, optimizing e-applications and e-contracts and measuring our carbon emissions, we’re taking great strides in improving our daily operations. We’re also taking societal health issues like diabetes and cancer and integrating them into the design of our products, creating more inclusive options and contributing to the UN goal of good health and well-being.
When it comes to investments, we include environment, social and governance (ESG) factors in our overall decision-making to better understand risk-adjusted returns. We recognize climate change as a significant human, business and financial risk. As of June 2022, $287 million of our assets were held in green and sustainable bonds.
We partner with investment managers who share our approach and incorporate ESG into their investment processes. Through these partnerships, we’re working to evolve our investments in line with industry best practices in the ESG field.
Foresters is not your ordinary financial services company. In addition to savings and life insurance products, you get access to unique benefits that help support the well-being of you and your loved ones every day. In a sense, we’re re-writing the life insurance story, creating coverage that protects tomorrow while helping you live your best life today.
As a member, you also get a wide range of unique and complimentary benefits1 to help you live your best life and give back to your community. It’s just one of the many ways we share our financial success with our members.
We’re committed to encouraging a work environment where our employees can belong, learn and thrive, enabling them to do their best work.
Through our Employee Engagement, Inclusion, Diversity & Equity (IDE) and other surveys, we continuously gather employee feedback on how we’re doing and what we can do better.
We established an Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (IDE) Council comprised of executives and employees and hired an AVP of Inclusion, Diversity & Equity to increase our commitment to upholding a more inclusive workplace.
Lastly, we’re proud to announce that we have launched three Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) which include Pride at Foresters, Foresters Multicultural and Foresters Women’s ERGs. These groups are growing daily and have representation from both North America and the United Kingdom.
Our people are passionate about making a difference. Foresters sustainability committee includes employees from across the business who are dedicated to helping communities and the environment. Employees are encouraged to support their communities with one paid day per year through our Day of Caring Program.
We help our agents succeed by providing unparalleled tailored support and a unique package of complimentary member benefits they can pass on to their clients.
Our commitment to supporting families and communities sets our agents apart in the marketplace. And when that commitment inspires them to volunteer in their communities, we’re always right behind our agents.
Finally, we celebrate our agents by demonstrating the difference they are making and helping them grow their businesses. We have many successful agents who are Foresters members and use the community grants to give back to their local neighborhoods and meet new people and prospects.
We want to help you do more of the good you want to do. Our grassroots member programs, where members decide on what they want to do, are a great way to bring sustainability efforts to our communities and the families that are a part of them. These programs are one of the leading ways we are working towards the UN goal of sustainable cities and communities.
Whether it’s through sustainability partnerships, community garden projects or giving back to charities and people in need with our grants, you get more opportunities to make a difference in your family’s lives and in your community through Foresters.
The actions we take at Foresters with our members, employees, agents and communities are helping to support an equitable world where people live in dignity. By linking our approach with the UN Sustainable Development Goals of good health and well-being, sustainable cities and communities and climate action, we’re contributing to the global effort to protect the overall well-being of current and future generations.
Foresters Financial, Foresters, Foresters Care, Foresters Moments, Foresters Renew, Foresters Go, the Foresters Go logo and Helping Is Who We Are are trade names and trademarks of The Independent Order of Foresters (a fraternal benefit society, 789 Don Mills Rd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3C 1T9) and its subsidiaries.
* Green or sustainable bonds held in Foresters asset portfolios have been represented by their respective issuers in public securities filings to be in alignment with green or sustainable principles established by the International Capital Market Association. For more information, please visit https://www.icmagroup.org/sustainable-finance. Amounts based on consolidated financial results prepared in Canadian dollars as of January 31, 2023 and converted into USD using the Bank of Canada annual average exchange rate of 1.3350.