Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A. is the Holding Company of the Aval Financial Conglomerate, one of the main financial groups in Latin America, has positioned as the largest financial group in Colombia. Its mission is to provide the customers with socially responsible, safe and easy-to-access, understand and manage financial solutions in any place and at any time.
To generate added value to all stakeholders, Grupo Aval is constantly evolving and striving towards the growth and development of the country. The decisions taken by Grupo Aval are guided by the impact they have on the economy, social development and environment to ensure the well-being of the context in which it operates. For that reason, Grupo Aval´s sustainable model contemplates the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations 2030 agenda, prioritized 8 SDGs in which the group add more value. Consequently, the group is part of different international sustainable initiatives as Global Compact, Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI), DJSI (Dow Jones Sustainable index) and UNEPFI (in progress).
One of the main contributions of Grupo Aval in Colombia in social and economic aspects is the generation of around 85.000 jobs in the country; 70.000 of which are direct collaborators, and leverage of other 26.000 positions in the companies in which they provide services through outsourcing.
Additionally, entities from the conglomerate such as Banco de Bogotá, Banco Popular, Banco de Occidente, Corficolombiana, and Porvenir, have been recognized by Great Place to Work as some of the best employers in the country. In other hand, Porvenir received the first place in Great place to work for women in Colombia, in the “more than 1.500 employees” category. Furthermore, according to Linkedin’s Top Companies 2022, Grupo Aval is the number one employer in Colombia due to its implementation of varied strategies to foster personal and professional growth opportunities.
The economic contributions of Grupo Aval not only push towards the development of society but are also evident by the accompaniment of the conglomerate toward other Colombian companies. Banco de Occidente, for example, has a training program on different topics of interest based on seminars, short workshops, and podcasts, intended for over 8.000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SME´s); this program contributes to increase their sales and strengthens their decision-making process by providing sectorial information and comparative data. Banco de Bogotá, alongside Deloitte and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, provides advisory and coaching to SME´s, to help them assess and regulate their management practices, to structure a sustainable model, and generate value in the long term. Moreover, Corficolombiana through the Corficolombiana Sustainable Awards, recognize their SME´s providers sustainable initiatives with social, environment and economic impact in the communities, process, products or services.
On the other hand, the company dale! is constantly aiming towards the financial inclusion of people around the country no matter if they have credit solvency. Through its electronic wallet, facilitates easy and secure transactions with no cost. In 2021 dale! benefited more than 20.000 people in different regions of the country, in alliance with NGO´s, companies and universities.
“GRUPO AVAL HAS INCORPORATED ESG AS ONE OF ITS STRATEGIC PILLARS FOR OVER HALF
LUIS CARLOS SARMIENTO GUTIÉRREZ, PRESIDENT OF GRUPO AVAL.
OF A DECADE. OUR CONGLOMERATE HAS BEEN COMMITTED TO THE DEVELOPMENTS OF THE REGIONS WHERE WE OPERATE, PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT AND STRENGTHENING OUR CORPORATE GOVERNANCE”
INNOVATION AND SOCIAL COMMITMENT
In 2022, Grupo Aval inaugurate CTIC – Cancer Treatment and Research Center (Centro de Tratamiento e Investigación sobre Cáncer Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo for its acronym in Spanish) a non-profit organization that provides comprehensive and advanced treatment for Cancer in Colombia, contributing to the development and wellbeing of the country. CTIC has the highest scientific and humanitarian standards with a multidisciplinary approach.
For its purpose of providing hope in the fight against cancer, the Center has the capacity of caring more than 7,000 people annually, due to the 12 clinical functional units which the Center operates and that respond to the most frequent oncological pathologies.
In addition to its diagnostic and clinical component, the CTIC has the biggest research facilities in the country about the disease, where the most advanced equipment in genomics, proteinomics and immunogenetics. The Center has established itself as the largest health donation in the country’s history. In fact, since its construction, it has been declared a Project of Strategic National Interest, being the first institution in the health sector to receive this designation.
GREEN PROJECTS AND RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT
Grupo Aval has also taken environmentally and socially sustainable steps through green projects and responsible investments, such as the issuance of social bonds by Corficolombiana, as well as Banco de Bogotá being titled as the first carbon-neutral bank in Colombia by Icontec (Colombian Institute of Technical Standards and Certification); the actions and products of subsidiary companies of Grupo Aval that promote the consumption of low emission products, and that contribute to communities from vulnerable regions from Colombia; the “Planeta Azul Award” by Banco de Occidente, has awarded for 25 years companies and people who work towards water conservation.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Grupo Aval, the banks that belong to this conglomerate: Bogotá, Occidente, Popular, AV Villas, and the pension and severance fund Porvenir are committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion, as acknowledged by the recertification Friendly Biz, given by the LGBT+ Chamber in 2022. In addition, Corficolombiana will receive this certification for the first time in a few days. Grupo Aval´s Diversity and inclusion corporate policies, established alongside the inclusion program of the global NGO ACDI/VOCA and the ACDI/VOCA LA Foundation, are examples of the efforts made towards inclusion, which decrease the barriers faced by women, ethnic communities, people with disabilities, youth, migrants, elderly, and LGBTIQ+, in educational, corporate, productive, mediatic, cultural and social environments.
“The role of the financial sector will continue to be decisive, not only economically but also sustainably. Grupo Aval understands and is committed to the development of environmental, social, and company management factors. Incorporating and accounting for these factors in a business strategy is crucial to guarantee continuity of the operations as well as prosperity in the places in which Grupo Aval works, and thus the development and growth of the conglomerate”, stated Luis Carlos Sarmiento Gutiérrez, President of Grupo Aval.
