IAG and Suncorp have taken honours in the inaugural Shared Value Awards, recognising efforts to address complex challenges affecting society while creating economic benefits and enhancing competitiveness.

The “corporate organisation leading through shared value” award was presented to IAG for its focus on building safer, stronger and more confident communities.

The insurer has Australasia’s first corporate Head of Group Shared Value, Ramana James, and a team that reports directly to the Group Executive of People Performance and Reputation.

“This is fantastic recognition of our commitment to delivering real value for our business and stakeholders through identifying social and environmental issues that we can help solve,” a spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

IAG won ahead of National Australia Bank, which was highly commended.

Suncorp’s Essentials insurance cover, provided through its AAI brand, won the award for a shared-value project by an organisation or collaboration.

“Essentials addresses the issues of insurance affordability and financial exclusion in Australia, by offering a sustainable insurance product that enables people on low incomes to accumulate and use assets with much greater safety and confidence,” the company says.

Awards selection committee chairman Joanne Gray says a large number of quality applications were received.

“The applications we reviewed demonstrate there is substantial leadership commitment for this growing area,” she said.

The shared-value concept was defined by Michael Porter and Mark Kramer in a Harvard Business Review article in 2011, and it has since become a global movement.

The Australasian awards were presented in Sydney last Tuesday. Other winners included Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who was named shared-value champion.