USAA NAMED ONE OF THE 2018 WORLD'S MOST ETHICAL COMPANIES® BY THE ETHISPHERE INSTITUTE FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR
February 12, 2018
SAN ANTONIO – USAA has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the 2018 World’s Most Ethical Companies.
USAA has been recognized for three consecutive years and is the only honoree in the Insurance industry, alongside companies like Microsoft, Starbucks, and Volvo. This recognition underscores the commitment to leading with integrity and prioritizing ethical business practices.
This year 135 honorees were recognized, spanning 23 countries and 57 industries. These honorees had record levels of involvement with their stakeholders and their communities around the world and focused on measuring and improving culture, leading authentically and committing to transparency, diversity and inclusion.
“For more than 95 years, we have existed to help the military community become more financially secure,” said USAA CEO Stuart Parker. “Creating a culture that values ethical behavior and promotes diversity is essential to providing our members with excellent service.”
“While the discourse around the world changed profoundly in 2017, a stronger voice emerged. Global corporations operating with a common rule of law are now society’s strongest force to improve the human condition. This year we saw companies increasingly finding their voice. The World’s Most Ethical Companies in particular continued to show exemplary leadership,” explained Ethisphere’s CEO, Timothy Erblich. "I congratulate everyone at USAA for being recognized as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies."
Ethics & Performance
Once again, the 2018 World’s Most Ethical Companies have proven that operating with integrity leads to greater financial performance. Research has found that, when indexed, listed World’s Most Ethical Companies outperformed the U.S. Large Cap Index over five years by 10.72 percent and over three years by 4.88 percent. Ethisphere refers to this as the Ethics Premium.
Methodology & Scoring
The World's Most Ethical Companies assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute’s Ethics Quotient® (EQ) framework, which offers a quantitative way to assess a company’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized manner. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.
Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35 percent), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20 percent), culture of ethics (20 percent), governance (15 percent) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10 percent). All companies that participate in the assessment process receive their scores, providing them with valuable insights into how they stack up against leading organizations. The full list of the 2018 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.
About USAA
The USAA family of companies provides insurance, banking, investments, retirement products and advice to over 12 million current and former members of the U.S. military and their families. Known for its legendary commitment to its members, USAA is consistently recognized for outstanding service, employee well-being and financial strength. USAA membership is open to all who are serving our nation in the U.S. military or have received a discharge type of Honorable – and their eligible family members. Founded in 1922, USAA is headquartered in San Antonio. For more information about USAA, follow us on Facebook or Twitter (@USAA), or visit usaa.com.
About the Ethisphere Institute
The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com.