Social engagement

As an international bank group with regional roots, we recognise our social and environmental responsibility in the places we do business, mainly Liechtenstein, but also selectively in other regions where we are represented. VP Bank focuses its charitable donations, alternating by year, on recreational sporting associations and cultural institutions serving the general public. VP Bank Group employees who actively ­participate in a charitable institution also receive a supporting contribution. Numerous initiatives and projects have benefited from this commitment over many years.

Since 2012, VP Bank has also had a charitable giving agreement with the Swiss Climate Foundation. As a partner of this foundation, VP Bank provides financial support for the energy efficiency and climate protection projects of small and medium-sized companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Under this arrangement, VP Bank provides financing based on the net rebate of the CO₂ incentive tax on fossil fuels.

In the areas of sport, culture and entrepreneurship, VP Bank supports selected sponsorship projects that are unique and offer the company an additional platform for positioning itself in an emotionally engaging manner. In 2020, VP Bank put its focus on two long-term commitments.

In classical music, VP Bank was a Presenting Partner of the VP Bank Classic Festival in Switzerland until 2020. The festival’s purpose is to provide an international springboard for young classical artists to develop their musical talent. In 2021, VP Bank will be the main sponsor of the International Classical Music Awards, the most important awards for ­classical music in Europe.

As main sponsor and co-initiator of the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open, VP Bank’s new commitment to golf, the Bank brought the Ladies European Tour back to Switzerland in 2020. With this sponsorship, VP Bank is underscoring its long-standing commitment to women’s golf and offering Europe’s best professional players a new, attractive tournament. 

VP Bank Art Foundation was established in 1996 and collects works of contemporary artists. Its purpose is to foster art appreciation in a targeted manner within and outside VP Bank, as well as to promote visual arts by means of acquisitions and art-related publications. The purchased works are displayed in the rooms of VP Bank as well as at art exhibitions. They are also loaned to third parties for showings at other venues.

Hans Brunhart is Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of ­Trustees. Other board members are Fredy Vogt, Member of the Board of Directors of VP Bank, and Dr Uwe Wieczorek, curator of the Hilti Art Foundation. Annett Höland is curator of the Foundation.

Activities in 2020 focused on three acquisitions, the placement of works of art in VP Bank’s business premises, management and inventory of the collection, and redesign of the art storage facility. 

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the collection of VP Bank Art Foundation will be made accessible to a wider public in 2021. VP Bank Art Foundation receives an annual financial contribution from VP Bank. 

VP Bank Foundation was initiated in 2006 and established in 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of VP Bank. In keeping with its Articles of Association, the Foundation supports projects, individuals and institutions that have made outsized contributions on behalf of the environment, art, education, science or culture. Charitable activities on behalf of the general public are also supported. This patronage is intended to be connected with Liechtenstein and consistent with VP Bank’s corporate values. Donations can also be made for welfare and social purposes. VP Bank Foundation has earned a well-regarded position among Liechtenstein foundations and helped to shape the philanthropic sector.

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees comprises Hans Brunhart and Fredy Vogt. During the year under review, VP Bank Foundation distributed around CHF 200,000 to worthy causes. 

Promoting science and education has been a major part of VP Bank Foundation’s activities from the outset. With this objective, the Foundation supports scientific institutions and their projects, publications, training facilities, associations and private initiatives.

In the area of culture, various projects in the fields of literature, art, cultural events and association activities were ­supported. 

Within the scope of a multi-year commitment in the area of the environment, support was given to Lebenswertes Liechtenstein, a foundation co-founded by VP Bank Foundation. A renaturation project and a climate protection project of the myclimate foundation were also supported. 

In connection with the “Lichtblick” campaign, VP Bank Foundation made grants totalling around CHF 63,000 to 28 social institutions in Liechtenstein in 2020. 

The Foundation’s impact is achieved through financial contributions and investment of the Foundation’s assets according to sustainability criteria. Within the context of its investment policy, the Foundation’s Board of Trustees has thus invested a large part of the Foundation’s assets in a sustainable mandate. An additional portion of the Foundation’s assets is invested in the EMF Microfinance Funds and in the VP Bank Strategy Fund Class C. Via returns from the latter exposure, the SolidarMed relief organisation again received earmarked financial aid in 2020. 

VP Bank Foundation is a founding member of the Liechtenstein Association of Non-Profit Foundations (Vereinigung liechtensteinischer gemeinnütziger Stiftungen e. V. – VLGS) and the SwissFoundations association. The Foundation’s Board of Trustees actively participates in the management and development of the Liechtenstein association and of the Foundation location, and makes use of valuable sharing of experiences in both associations.