SPB has long been involved in the world of adventure and exploration, backing explorers’ initiatives and forging a partnership with the Guilde Européenne du Raid. For SPB, this approach draws a parallel between adventurers and its own corporate culture -a culture based on research, reaching new heights, searching for discoveries, the will to progress, perseverance and effort. Risk management is a constant concern, as befits SPB's role in the insurance industry.

In December 2008, the 25-year-old Brit Oliver Hicks will head out eastward from New Zealand with the goal of rowing solo and unassisted around the Antarctic continent – a feat expected to take between 18 and 24 months. Olly is no newcomer to such challenges: he is already the youngest person to have rowed across the Atlantic.