Throughout the past decade, we have used our capital to help tackle social issues ranging from chronic underinvestment in housing and infrastructure to the financial struggles faced by our ageing populations and changes to the welfare system.
Despite making significant strides over the years, two major developments in 2022 revealed and reinforced the need for deep, structural improvements in these areas: geopolitical instability and inflation. While the latter started to emerge in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, world events in 2022 exacerbated its effects – driving up energy and food prices and causing major cost-of-living pressures throughout society.
While we cannot tackle them on our own, we are uniquely placed to make a material difference on these issues. With £1.2 trillion assets under management, £32 billion direct investments in housing, clean energy, and infrastructure, and 13 million people insured by or saving for their retirement with Legal & General, we are investing today’s capital in tomorrow’s growth opportunities – and generating social and economic good in the process. This report explains how.
We combine scale, reach and financial strength
£1.2tn
Assets under management
£32bn
Direct investments
Creating long-term financial wellbeing
Financial wellbeing can have a significant effect on individual health. This became increasingly apparent in 2022, as the cost-of-living crisis caused many to experience financial stress like never before. Regardless of age, life stage, or financial position, we believe that everyone should feel financially confident – especially in tough times. That’s why we provide a range a products and services to help people manage their current situation and plan for a secure financial future.
In 2022, our goal to create long-term financial wellbeing materialised in a variety of initiatives, including the launch of our three-year partnership with RedSTART, a financial education charity that aims to improve primary school children’s financial literacy; the creation of our free Midlife MOT course; and our investment in innovative mortgage lender, Generation Home, which helps first-time buyers enter the property market. Through these partnerships and investments, and more, we have been able to create additional, targeted value for the customers who need it most – at all life stages.
Building better communities
At Legal & General, we’re investing in our communities to create better places to live and work, reverse the trend of chronic underinvestment and reduce economic inequalities.
By working alongside local and central governments, we make sure our investments are targeting the places that need it most, in the way they need it most – whether that be through creating much needed infrastructure, supporting small businesses or helping to regenerate places that haven’t received the attention they need.
In 2022, we embarked on multiple city regeneration projects including the following:
- In partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), we committed £4 billion to regeneration, housing and levelling up across the West Midlands – an investment that will help the city rebuild from the impacts of underinvestment and the pandemic and thrive in the years to come.
- In Cardiff, we invested an additional £200 million to help deliver 715 build to rent apartments in Central Quay. This is part of our £1 billion investment in Cardiff’s Central Square, which has been a significant driver in the city quickly becoming one of the fastest growing employment hubs in the UK.
- We started work on the Sheffield West Bar development, a £300 million endeavour which will deliver much needed grade A office accommodation, housing, and green public spaces and has the potential to create up to 8,000 new jobs.
Other 2022 projects included our partnership with UCL’s Institute of Health Equity and creation of The Business of Health Equity: The Marmot Review for Industry, which sets out three ways that business can improve people’s lives by reducing health inequality; our institutional retirement business’s commitment to invest a further £2 billion into affordable housing over the next five years, which will help to create more than 10,000 new homes nationwide; and the creation of our place-based social impact toolkit, which can be applied at any stage of the investment life cycle.
For Legal & General, place-based social impact is the intentional, additional and attributable economic, social and environmental benefits to communities as a result of our investment in real estate. We’ve developed a toolkit, focused on a framework of impact themes and priorities, which will help us to create a positive impact where we invest.
Overview of social impact themes and priorities
The foundation of the toolkit is a comprehensive framework of social impact themes and priorities which our real estate investment can support. The balance will differ by local context.
Jobs and skills
- Ethical, local and inclusive employment, skills and educational opportunities.
- Ethical
- Local
- Inclusive
Responsible procurement
- Responsible sourcing of supplies and services that is ethical, local and inclusive.
- Ethical
- Local
- Inclusive
Equity and affordability
- Contributing to the affordability and equity of local places.
- Affordability
- Digital inclusion
- Resilient local economies
Physical and mental health
- Supporting the health and wellbeing of people and communities influenced by places and buildings.
- Physical health
- Mental wellbeing
- Healthy places and buildings
Quality of life
- Supporting the social health, quality of life, vibrancy and safety of communities.
- Services and amenities
- Culture and heritage
- Safety and security
Community and partnerships
- Supporting active community engagement and partnerships with local organisations.
- Civic pride and cohesion
- Participation and outreach
Just transition
- Enhancing and preserving the local environment and supporting a just transition to net zero.
- Climate mitigation
- Climate resilience
- Local environmental quality
Access to nature
- Supporting local access to, and regeneration of, nature and biodiversity.
- Biodiversity
- Blue-green infrastructure
Connected places
- Supporting sustainable and active transport and infrastructure.
- Walkability and permeability
- Low-carbon travel
Engaging customers and employees with our impact
Creating a more inclusive form of capitalism is reflected in everything we do – from our investments in long-term assets, such as housing and renewable energy, to how we plan, hire and do business. As such, ensuring our customers’ and employees’ wellbeing is incredibly important.
Through training sessions and events, we make sure our employees have the necessary skills and experience to ensure the wellbeing of all our customers – especially those who may be more vulnerable. In 2022, this involved developing and rolling out a cost-of-living training to customer-facing teams, holding a ‘Customers in Vulnerable Circumstances’ Day to educate employees on the role they play in supporting our customers; and signing up for StepChange, an established debt advice charity, for our customers to use.
It also means looking after our employees’ wellbeing, which we achieve by advocating for workplace wellbeing and by encouraging our employees to play a part in the community, as volunteering has been shown to improve employee wellbeing, belonging, and team bonding. In 2022, we matched over £355,000 raised by our employees and donated £49,450 in time matching for their volunteering efforts – both of which formed part of the £2,263,790 we donated to charitable causes overall.
Being a responsible role model
Running our business ethically is part of our promise to shareholders, which is why we hold ourselves and our employees to a high standard when it comes to being a responsible role model.
As a people business, we aspire to empower our employees to work together to create value for our customers and the communities we serve. Key to this is creating a workplace culture where employees act in a straightforward, collaborative, and purposeful way.
It also means listening to our people and involving them in decisions. Through our 2022 Voice survey, we measured employee sentiment on a range of issues and found that employee satisfaction was 78%, up two percentage points year-on-year, based on an 82% response rate. And in our UK business, we celebrated a 25-year partnership with our recognised trade union, Unite.
While we’ve made progress on our goal of building a diverse workforce and inclusive workplace, we know there’s much more to do to reach our 2025 goals.
One area we have identified for improvement is our gender pay gap. In 2022, our gender pay gap decreased from 24.1% to 22.4%. However, we aim to reduce this number even more. That’s why we’ve set a goal that 40% of our senior roles will be held by women in 2025 – we are currently at 38%.
For more information on the makeup of our employee body, our gender pay gap disclosure, and our commitment to running our business ethically, please see our Social Impact Report.
