QBE North America Announces First Ever Pay for Success Fund Benefiting Multiple Projects

PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Feb. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- QBE North America, an integrated specialist insurer is pleased to announce its investment in the Reinvestment Fund's Pay for Success (PFS) Fund. This PFS Fund focuses on supporting promising policy interventions that deliver high impact social services in low income communities such as health care, housing and education. The initiative aligns with QBE's core value of giving back to help people lead healthier, more productive lives.

As a senior funder, QBE is supporting this initiative in partnership with Living Cities, a collection of the world's largest foundations and financial institutions. QBE is the largest investor in this first of its kind fund.

PFS programs are impact investment partnerships made between the private and public sectors to support social programs. Through these multi-year investments, private sector funds are utilized to support nonprofit expertise and work to address specific social issues with measurable objectives. Typically, the service provider is accountable to meet required performance goals and the program is measured through independent evaluation.

The Reinvestment Fund is one of the most experienced PFS lenders in the United States. They are a catalyst for change in low-income communities by using strategic investments to bring high-quality grocery stores, affordable housing, schools and health centers to communities in need.

"Investing in the first PFS fund in the United States is an important step in QBE's ongoing commitment to the development and institutionalization of this market. Since 2014, QBE has invested in PFS and social impact bonds in the US, Australia, UK and Canada," said Gary Brader, Chief Investment Officer for QBE Insurance Group. "This investment fits nicely with our Premiums4Good initiative, whereby we undertake to invest a portion of selected customer premiums into assets which are socially or environmentally beneficial," he said.

"We are excited to launch this fund with some of the most experienced PFS investors in this still nascent field in the United States," said Don Hinkle-Brown, President and CEO of the Reinvestment Fund. "The PFS Fund offers an innovative, organized capital source that will bring efficiency to these transactions by reducing costs and speeding deal execution," he added.

"We take great pride in helping our communities," said Harpreet Mann, Vice President, Specialty Insurance, QBE North America. "We are proud to partner with and support the Reinvestment Fund and look forward to making continued investments to support high impact social services."

This is QBE's fourth social impact bond investment in North America under its global Premiums4Good initiative through which QBE allocates a portion of premium toward impact investments.

About QBE
QBE North America is part of QBE Insurance Group Limited, one of the largest insurers and reinsurers worldwide. QBE NA reported Gross Written Premiums in 2016 of $4.6 billion. QBE Insurance Group's 2016 results can be found at www.qbena.com. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, QBE operates out of 36 countries around the globe, with a presence in every key insurance market. The North America division, headquartered in New York, conducts business through its property and casualty insurance subsidiaries. The actual terms and coverage for all lines of business is subject to the language of the policies as issued. QBE insurance companies are rated "A" (Excellent) by A.M. Best and "A+" by Standard & Poor's. Additional information can be found at www.qbena.com, or follow QBE North America on Twitter.