Message from the Directors
ICEA was built on a foundation of values that encompass always doing the right thing. For more than 50 years, our Company and our people have been delivering outstanding shareholder value while meeting the needs of our various stakeholders – our investors, our agents and customers, our employees, our communities, and society. We have always recognized that in order to achieve long-term success, we have an obligation to society and the sustainability of the world around us. This understanding stems from the reality that at its core, insurance is a service business. It helps people and businesses manage their risks so that they can go about their lives and serve their customers. It is a key component that enables the global economy to thrive. Much of our business is focused on small businesses and organizations in industries that help others, including public entities, healthcare and social services organizations, and agricultural or food-related enterprises. Overall, property casualty insurance is a business of risk management. Managing risk in our own business and helping our clients manage theirs is of paramount importance.
Our people are our greatest asset in these endeavors. From the day it was founded, our business has been about people, and the expertise they bring to bear in all that we do. We have succeeded over these five decades because of teamwork – and because those teams are made up of individuals who, every day, in every location, go the extra mile. This has been reflected not only in our results but in our culture of working together with shared values for a common goal and a common good. We trademarked the phrase “We are better together” more than a decade ago – and we live those words every day. So, it only follows that our culture is one of helping others, and our people are dedicated to serving both the communities in which we live and work and those in need throughout the world. We are often humbled the generosity of our people and the many hours of service they offer each year, and we strive to do our part as a Company.
However, in talking to our investors we have realized that while we have lived these values every day, we have not communicated how our policies and practices support the sustainability of our Company and the world around us to our stakeholders in an organized manner. So we have embarked on a journey to collect and disseminate information about our efforts in these areas while continuing to further enhance what we do. To that end, we recently undertook a strategic assessment of our most important environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues for further consideration and compiled this report as a starting point for our journey. This report is just the beginning. It is a foundation that we can build upon in the years to come. We are excited about continuously improving our sustainability performance and look forward to sharing our progress with you.
Thank you for your interest in ICEA and the work we do to make our Company and our country a better place today and for future generations.
Management
6/7/2020