Read more in our latest Sustainability Report:
Economic performance and target fulfilment in 2021
Kinnevik’s sustainability target related to the governance aspect is to deliver an annual total shareholder return (“TSR”) of 12-15% over the business cycle. Kinnevik’s TSR amounted to 29% for the full year 2021, the five-year annualised TSR was 30% and the ten-year annualised TSR was 23%, per 31 December 2021.
In terms of financial performance more broadly, during 2021 Kinnevik’s Net Asset Value increased by 16%, adjusted for dividends paid and excluding Zalando, to SEK 72.4bn (62.3). Kinnevik ended 2021 in a net cash position of SEK 5.4bn, corresponding to 8.0% (4.5) of portfolio value.
Governance
Kinnevik’s Board of Directors is responsible for our overall strategy, including how sustainability is an integrated part of our value creation, and is well informed about Kinnevik’s policies and procedures. To assist the Board in fulfi lling its responsibilities, it has appointed an Audit & Sustainability Committee which is a subset of the Board.
All employees, representatives of Kinnevik and third parties engaged with Kinnevik are expected to fully comply with our Code of Conduct. Kinnevik has an onboarding process for new employees that introduces them to the Code of Conduct, which includes provisions on anti-bribery and business ethics, and other key policies and procedures. Kinnevik conducts mandatory annual Code of Conduct training for all employees. The Code of Conduct is shared with all relevant suppliers on a yearly basis.
Risk Management
Kinnevik’s Board is responsible for internal control in accordance with the Swedish Companies Act (Swe: Aktiebolagslagen) and the Swedish Corporate Governance Code. To identify, assess and manage risks for Kinnevik on an ongoing basis, the Board has adopted a Risk Management Policy.
A material level of Kinnevik’s risk exposure sits within our portfolio and thus the risk assessment process is performed both on a Kinnevik and portfolio level. To record the results of the assessment process, a Kinnevik Risk Register and Portfolio Risk Register are kept. Kinnevik’s risk exposure changes regularly and therefore the risk assessment process is performed and the Risk Registers updated at least twice a year.
Compliance
Kinnevik’s compliance framework is mainly focused on compliance with the laws and regulations that govern listed companies in Sweden, such as Nasdaq Stockholm’s Rule Book for Issuers, the European Union Market Abuse Regulation (No 596/2014), the Swedish Companies Act, and other laws and regulations relating to Kinnevik’s operations and investment activities.
Kinnevik conducts mandatory annual compliance training, including Code of Conduct and Insider Trading Rules, for all employees, as well as periodic deep dives on specific matters such as anti-corruption and supply chain management.