A new report encourages Australian insurers to adopt the shared-value concept and drive improvements to communities.

Shared value, first outlined by Harvard experts Michael Porter and Mark Kramer in 2011, aims to connect company success with social progress.

The Australian-based Shared Value Project has released a report describing insurance as “the ultimate shared-value industry” and urging companies to pursue the approach.

In the report’s foreword, Professor Porter says many insurers “remain stuck in a passive, actuarial model rather than pursuing shared value”.

“Insurers benefit more than almost any industry from societal advances, but have lagged in proactively tackling the societal conditions that will most affect their businesses,” he said.

IAG is a founding member of the Shared Value Project, and the report refers to a number of the insurer’s initiatives.

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