Zurich in My Community
Investing in tomorrow.
We really do have your best interests at heart. In fact, we embrace the diversity of our local communities by initiating programmes to show our true love for children. As we grow, so will our initiatives.
Learn more about them below.
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Responsible Investment
As a global company, responsible investment is an integral part of our investment philosophy and approach.
We define responsible investment is about managing our portfolio of over USD 200 billion in assets to create sustainable value or, in other words, to do well and to do good.
Doing ‘well' means generating superior risk-adjusted returns for the benefit of Zurich's policyholders and shareholders, and doing 'good' means benefiting society and the communities in which we live and work.
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Eat Right To Play Right
2018 sees a new phase of the Eat Right to Play Right programme being launched with new partnerships and initiatives, with the aim to elevate ERTPR further to benefit more children and their parents on proper nutrition.
Below is a list of activities and achievements under ERTPR in 2018:
- Launched the second phase of ERTPR to promote the wellbeing of children with the formation of strategic partnerships with sporting bodies Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), Malaysia Connecting Communities (MCC), and hypermarket chain MYDIN.
- Activated the inaugural Youth Cup tournament in five locations – Kedah, Malacca, Pahang, Sarawak, and the Klang Valley. Over 2,000 children reached between September and December. The winning teams from each location then competed in the Grand Finals on 8 December 2018. Click here for the list of winners from each tournament.
- Distributed ERTPR Nutritional Journal which sees around 300 young children recording their daily balanced diet for 21 days.
- 5 roadshows both in Peninsular and East Malaysia with 4 mini games to represent the 4 main food groups that is vital for children’s growth – Grains, Protein, Fruits & Vegetables, as well as Dairy.
- 7 carnivals titled Pesta Bola Sepak & Pemakanan Sihat (Football & Healthy Eating Carnival) were organised in various states around Malaysia throughout 2018.
- ERTPR has been awarded the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Dream Asia Awards 2018 in the Corporate Category.
- Lastly, Safee Sali who is Malaysia’s national footballer is now our ERTPR Ambassador!
Started in 2015 with an objective of improving the nutritional knowledge and status of Malaysian children, the Eat Right to Play Right programme has continued its grassroots football activities all throughout 2017.
Here is an overview of what we have done so far in 2017:
- Reached a total of 1,618 children from 36 communities around Peninsular and East Malaysia.
- Conducted five community coach trainings, with a total of 104 coaches involved.
- Organised two football tournaments in Selangor and Sabah in March and August 2017 respectively.
- Had two carnivals titled Pesta Bola Sepak & Pemakanan Sihat (Football & Healthy Eating Carnival) in Negeri Sembilan and Selangor at the end of 2017. Winners from these two carnivals were awarded a grand prize of Kronos football boots as well as medals.
- Successfully collaborated with partners such as Sodexo Malaysia with a mutual aim to elevate the level of knowledge of the children and their parents about healthy eating and healthy living.
- Our communities have also participated in a friendly football match with the junior team of Australian Futsal Association in September 2017.
With this programme, we hope to further tackle the issues of malnutrition and obesity among children in Malaysia in the near future.
Eat Right To Play Right celebrates its first year in improving the nutritional status of children in Malaysia by using football as a platform. It was a year full of excitement as we kick started our programme in Klang Valley and branched outwards to other states in the country.
Let’s have a quick look on what we’ve done in 2016:
- 20 communities have successfully taken up the programme from across Selangor, Kelantan and Sabah
- 50 coaches were trained and empowered to run the programme in their community.
- 500 children are now part of our weekly football trainings and nutrition sessions.
- Had our first Family Day at the Enggang Community in Selangor and organised a special movie screening of Ola Bola to the children.
As we fight to end malnutrition, we are committed to bring more positive impact to our communities in 2017 and the years to come.
Leveraging on the power of football and Malaysia’s passion for the sport, this programme seeks to use football as a platform to educate children on the importance of nutrition as well as instilling self-discipline and sportsmanship. Through this collaboration, ZIMB, with support from the Z Zurich Foundation, pledges its support by contributing RM1milion per year to develop and co-execute the Eat Right to Play Right programme for four consecutive years as part of ZIMB’s long-term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) effort driven by its#TrueLoveForOurChildren initiative.
Under the programme, a series of football clinics as well as other community-based activities will be conducted for boys and girls aged between five to 12 years old from various backgrounds in selected communities covering both Peninsular and East Malaysia.
With a target reach of 10 states including the vicinities of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Kelantan, Sabah, Perak, Kedah, Johor as well as Sarawak, these communities, both urban and rural, were identified based on their needs, nutritional status and poverty levels. Trained community coaches will be conducting the weekly football sessions, which have been tailored to be fun, educational and interesting whilst educating the children on how to eat healthily and wisely.
Coaching them for the field, and preparing them for the world.
Love For Football
We invest in people by going back to grassroots. That's why our Love for Children initiative focuses on one of the nation's favourite sports: football.
So we partnered with The Little League Soccer coaches to host football clinics for 10 schools:
- SK Seri Bintang Utara, Kuala Lumpur
- SMK Tinggi St. David, Melaka
- SMK Kepong Baru, Kuala Lumpur
- SMK Seremban 2, Negeri Sembilan
- SMK Taman Klang Utama, Selangor
- SMK Jugra, Banting, Selangor
- SMK Tanah Putih, Kuantan, Pahang
- SMK Tun Sulaiman Ninam Shah, Muar, Johor
- SMK Jalan Pasir Putih, Ipoh, Perak
- SMK Taman Sutera, Johor Bahru, Johor
Each of these schools have also received our gift of RM5000 worth of football equipment. We have also successfully organized 2 friendly matches for SMK Taman Sutera, Johor Bahru and SMK Klang Utama, Klang.
With this initiative, we helped to foster football talent and promote an active lifestyle to children at schools across the nation.
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Zurich Community Week
Zurich employees come together during a selected week every year to contribute their time, skills, and resources to make a positive difference to the communities in which they live and work. This selected week is known as Zurich Community Week (ZCW).
This year, we decided to do things differently for ZCW! Hearing about the plight of Orang Asli communities around us, 70 volunteers travelled to Kampung Orang Asli Gurney in Batang Kali to build two homes for two deserving families. The build for both of the homes started on the early morning of 19th July 2019 and ended on the evening of 21st July 2019.
Each home features a foyer, a hall, three rooms, and a kitchen – providing ample space for the families especially the children when they are doing their homework.
The beneficiary of the first home is Suratman and his family. He and his wife, Rafeah, have been married for 20 years and have five children ages 8 to 17 years old. Suratman puts food on the table by selling forest product such as fruits and flowers, while his wife works as a housekeeping staff.
Zeek and Sari, together with their three children, are the beneficiary of the second home. Zeek earns a living by working as a factory worker and is the sole breadwinner for his family.
Both Suratman and Zeek hope that with their new and safer homes, they are able to provide a conducive environment for their children to be able to finish school and have opportunities for a better life.
During a selected week every year, Zurich employees all over the world concurrently engage in hands-on activities that make a positive difference within the local communities by sharing their time, skills and resources. This selected week is known as the Zurich Community Week.
With the aim of providing a nutritious meal to the deserving communities around us this year, Zurich Malaysia’s Head Office took on the challenge of preparing thousands of healthy sandwiches with the help of student volunteers from SMK Putrajaya Precinct 11(2) and SMK Agama Putrajaya.
To ensure that the sandwiches prepared were of the highest quality, 150 Zurich volunteers and 100 teacher volunteers assisted the school students and together, we successfully assembled 8,726 sandwiches which were then distributed to 10 beneficiaries within Klang Valley. The beneficiaries of the sandwiches included one soup kitchen, four underprivileged communities and five shelters.
Other than the joy of knowing that our beneficiaries enjoyed their sandwiches, we were also thrilled to discover that we have broken the Malaysian record for the Most Number of Children Making Sandwiches in a Single Event with a total of 798 children! These children’s commitment to helping those around them is truly commendable.
In addition to the Sandwich Project by the Head Office, our branches nationwide also contributed their time and effort to help the communities around them. These branches organised a blood donation drive, visited homes for underprivileged children, provided much-needed school supplies for school-going children, as well as treated their chosen communities to delicious food.
Every year, Zurichers around the world commit one week to develop their respective communities. This year's Zurich Community Week (ZCW) was another success with a nationwide total of 2,638 volunteer hours being contributed to make a difference in the lives of our children and exampling our CSR motto of #TrueLoveForOurChildren.
Zurich Malaysia brought a taste of tropical paradise to its ZCW with the theme ‘Zutopia’. Taking place from 24 to 28 July, the week-long charity initiative kicked off at the Head Office with a donation drive among Zurichers, charity movie nights for underprivileged children and ended with the highly anticipated Zutopia Charity Day held at our headquarters in Menara Zurich, Kuala Lumpur. It saw more than 1,000 Zurichers crowding the lobby of Menara Zurich to participate in a series of fun-filled charitable activities.
The campaign managed to collect a total of MYR 61,254.30 which was channeled to 4 selected beneficiaries in Malaysia which are Spastic Children Association of Selangor & Federal Territory, Trinity Children Centre, Rumah Titian Kaseh, as well as Persatuan Sokongan Ibu Dan Anak Kurang Upaya Azwar Kuala Lumpur & Selangor. These selected beneficiaries focus on the welfare and wellbeing of underprivileged children, which is well in line with Zurich Malaysia’s commitment in contributing to the development and betterment of children.
Meanwhile at branches nationwide, our Zurichers were empowered to run their own charitable activities involving children. Many branches donated monetary funds, school and food supplies, helped cleaned charitable homes and even treated underprivileged children to a shopping spree. Special mention to Ipoh & Kota Kinabalu branches for going the extra mile by not only contributing to one children home but to 3 separate children homes over the course of 2 days.
Every year, Zurichers around the world commit one week to develop their respective communities. Keeping to the theme of "Love for the Children of Malaysia", Zurichers in Malaysia collaborated in different groups to cook and sell food to raise funds for the community. This year's Zurich Community Week was a huge success as Zurichers in Malaysia were able to raise approximately RM85,000. Each Ringgit raised will be matched by Z Foundation, bringing the total amount to be donated to RM170,000. This will be channeled to our Eat Right to Play Right (ERTPR) programme where we educate the children in underprivileged communities on the importance of good nutrition to boost their physical well-being.
Every year, Zurichers around the world commit one week to develop their respective communities. Keeping to the theme of “Love For the Children of Malaysia”, Zurichers in Malaysia have dedicated their efforts to the Spastic Children's Association of Selangor and Federal Territory (SCASFT). 2015 marked our second year of the programme on which we successfully raised RM160,529.00 for the association. From fundraisers to spending time with the children to even a ZCW Carnival, we were there.Painting the walls to colour the lives of children.
Every year, Zurichers around the world commit one week to develop their respective communities. Keeping to the theme of “Love For the Children of Malaysia”, Zurichers in Malaysia have dedicated their efforts to the Spastic Children's Association of Selangor and Federal Territory (SCASFT). 2014 marked our first year of the programme on which we successfully raised more than RM40,000 for the association. From fundraisers to spending time with the children to even repairing the school’s main hall, we were there.
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BNM School Adoption Programme
Zurich Malaysia is committed to the financial literacy of young Malaysians. It is also our belief that it’s important to start them young. Every year, we channel our efforts to support the Bank Negara Malaysia Adopted School Programme, Celik Kewangan syllabus, “Tanggungjawab dan Membuat Keputusan Kewangan.”
In 2017, we increased our adopted schools from 3 to 5. These newly adopted schools are situated in the city of Putrajaya, which are SK Putrajaya Presint 11(2) and SMK Putrajaya Presint 11(2). We aim to continue to add 2 adopted schools to our financial programme by 2018.
With this programme, the students are given an opportunity to develop their entrepreneurship which are not taught by books.
Our five adopted schools:
- SK Seri Bintang Utara, Kuala Lumpur
- SMK Cochrane Perkasa, Kuala Lumpur
- KL SMK Seksyen 7, Selangor
- SK Putrajaya Presint 11(2)
- SMK Putrajaya Presint 11(2)
Zurich Malaysia is committed to the financial literacy of young Malaysians. It is also our belief that it’s important to start them young. Every year, we channeled our efforts to support the Bank Negara Malaysia Adopted School Programme, Celik Kewangan syllabus, “Tanggungjawab dan Membuat Keputusan Kewangan.”
In 2016, 3 schools participated in the financial programme. The students and teachers came together with their brightest minds to take up the challenge and were very supportive towards this programme as it was also their second time participating since 2015. One of the school teams have successfully made more than RM1000 profit with limited asset and manpower provided. These schools include SMK Cochrane Perkasa, KL, SMK Seksyen 7, Shah Alam and SK Seri Bintang Utara, KL.
Our three adopted schools:
- SK Seri Bintang Utara, Kuala Lumpur
- SMK Cochrane Perkasa, Kuala Lumpur
- KL SMK Seksyen 7, Selangor
Zurich Malaysia is committed to the financial literacy of young Malaysians. It is also our belief that it’s important to start them young. Every year, we channeled our efforts to support the Bank Negara Malaysia Adopted School Programme, Celik Kewangan syllabus, “Tanggungjawab dan Membuat Keputusan Kewangan.”
In 2015, We challenged the students to create a small business and generate profit using the given starting capital from our three adopted schools to see how financially savvy they were. The goal was to show students the value of money and sources in creating income. Of course, the best ones walked away with prizes from us.
Our three adopted schools:
- SK Seri Bintang Utara, Kuala Lumpur
- SMK Cochrane Perkasa, Kuala Lumpur
- KL SMK Seksyen 7, Selangor
Zurich Malaysia is committed to the financial literacy of young Malaysians. It is also our belief that it’s important to start them young. Every year, we channeled our efforts to support the Bank Negara Malaysia Adopted School Programme, Celik Kewangan syllabus, “Tanggungjawab dan Membuat Keputusan Kewangan.”
In 2014, We challenged students from our three adopted schools to see how financially savvy they were. The goal was to show students the importance of careful consideration in their financial choices. Of course, the best ones walked away with prizes from us.
Our three adopted schools:
- SK Seri Bintang Utara, Kuala Lumpur
- SMK Cochrane Perkasa, Kuala Lumpur
- KL SMK Seksyen 7, Selangor
Achieving a positive impact on society and the environment
Responsible investment is not about philanthropy, it is about creating long-term value for all stakeholders while remaining true to our proven approach of maximising economic value based on a structured and disciplined investment process.