A good test of how well we are integrating CSR throughout our business is through external benchmarking, from participating in surveys to being assessed on publicly available CSR materials.

Benchmarking gives us valuable feedback on what is going well and what we could do better. Recent benchmarking activities are outlined below.

• Aviva continued to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World and STOXX Indexes, which track the economic, environmental and social performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide.
• Aviva was awarded a bronze-class distinction in The Sustainability Yearbook 2008, compiled by SAM (Sustainable Asset Management). The world’s 2,500 largest companies, as reflected in the Dow Jones Global Index, are invited each year to participate, and the top 15% in each of 57 sectors are included in the publication. Aviva was one of only two UK insurers awarded a class distinction in the insurance sector.
• Aviva has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series from its inception to the most recent September review. The index measures the performance of companies that meet globally recognised standards on corporate social responsibility.
• After completing our fifth annual survey for the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP5), a coalition of over 300 global investors, we were honoured as ‘Best in Class’ in our approach to climate change disclosure and named as one of the 68 FT500 companies in the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), a roll of honour for global corporations addressing the challenges of climate change.
• For the second consecutive year, Aviva was included in The Times Top 50 ‘Where Women Want to Work’ list, which provides information on the largest and most progressive employers in the UK. Organisations are judged on criteria including training and development, work-life balance, networking opportunities, and reward and recognition.
• In November, Aviva was ranked 35th out of 100 in the 2007 Accountability Rating of the world’s largest companies. The rating, developed by leading CSR consultancy csrnetwork and international think-tank AccountAbility, rates the extent to which companies have built responsible business practices.
• Aviva’s ‘Think Again’ diversity campaign was shortlisted by Race for Opportunity as a best-practice case study within its Business Impact category, and our ‘Respect Diversity’ toolkit was identified by the Equal Opportunities Commission as a leading initiative. We also improved our ranking from 120 to 78 in Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index in response to improving how we engage with lesbian and gay staff, customers and service users.
• We took part in Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index and will continue to monitor our policies and programmes against other companies to see where we can improve our performance.
• A case study on Aviva appeared in Closing the Gap, a best-practice guide to gender equality in the workplace produced by the Greater London Authority.