Health insurer nib recently announced its half-year results for FY21, and CEO Mark Fitzgibbon says that when it comes to planning for the future, a key part of its strategy will be around community support and sustainability.
Fitzgibbon says that as a health insurer, nib is well-placed to make a significant difference to the wellbeing of its communities. He noted that although it has long-term carbon targets in place, its biggest area of focus will be supporting the health of the populations of Australia and New Zealand, as this is the area where it has the resources to make the most tangible impact.
“We’ve long had a deep conviction around sustainability, and we take our obligation to the broader community in terms of building a sustainable business practice very personally,” Fitzgibbon commented.
“Easily, the area where we believe we can make the most significant contributions is around the health of the population.”
“We’ve made a commitment to be carbon neutral by the end of the financial year of 2022, but the population health is an area on which we’re very focused,” he explained.
“We want to make the communities we operate in more sustainable, and a great example of that is the work we’re doing with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei in New Zealand, where we have almost 5,000 people involved in our general population health programme. We’re working in collaboration with the leaders of that iwi, and we’re seeking to improve the overall health and wellbeing of their population.”
Fitzgibbon says that, ultimately, nib is looking to shift its value proposition to focus more on preventative health and wellbeing, and has already invested significant resources into data and partnerships with other insurers.
Read more: nib New Zealand releases half year results
“Our ambition is fundamentally to be as much a healthcare company as an insurance company, and we want the value proposition to be around health and wellbeing in the first place by avoiding the risk of disease and injury,” he stated.
“We have a fundamental belief that without constant innovation and experimentation, we won’t be as successful of a business as we’d like to be, and so we’re making a massive investment into data science, and we’re focused on affordability and sustainability.”
