Our Approach to Engagement
Better Businesses, Policy Advocacy, Investor Stewardship
We Pursue Engagement In Three Ways.
We are investors that push for change in corporate behavior.
Equally, we are also a company that wants to build our business practices to high standards.
Vert’s shareholder engagement is multi-layer. We want companies to understand that taking care of the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit, is a more successful way to run their business. One aspect of our engagement is to communicate directly with companies we hold in our fund. The next layer of our engagement is to reach out to those we do not yet hold in our fund to make these companies aware of sustainability initiatives that they could potentially participate in. We design our active ownership engagement in close consultation with the real estate industry, ESG research providers, and clients.
Additionally, we coordinate with other asset owners on selected environment, social and governance campaigns to bring a unified front to companies on specific issues. Where appropriate, we would file shareholder resolutions in coordination with other asset owners.
Vert, as a shareholder, votes its proxies. Our proxy voting policy is aligned with our concern for good corporate governance, environmental stewardship, and social well-being. Our Proxy Voting Summary is publicly available on our fund website.
Advocating for ESG in financial service industry initiatives.
Vert participates in advocacy work to build capacity for environmental, social, and governance transparency in the financial services industry. To facilitate this work, Vert is a member of The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (US SIF), a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI), supporters of the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), members of Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), and investor members of the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB).
Additionally, we coordinate with other various non-governmental organizations and asset managers on selected ESG campaigns to represent the ‘sustainable investor voice’ to companies, networks, or government agencies on specific issues. Please review our Annual Impact Report for an example of the initiatives we’ve supported available on our fund website.
Being a model company for sustainable businesses.
We endeavor to demonstrate leadership on how to run a business with sustainability at the center of our mission. We became a Certified B Corp to signal to our clients and others that we are dedicated to managing and operating our business in an ethical and sustainable way.
Certified B Corporations are companies that have been certified by the nonprofit B Lab which have met rigorous standards of social and environmental performance. It is similar to LEED for green buildings or USDA Organic for food products. The B Corp certification is rapidly becoming the global standard for sustainable business.
We are leading by doing and demonstrating that it is possible to run a financial services business AND do good within our sphere of influence.
Mapping ESG
A Landscape Review of Certifications, Reporting Frameworks and Practices
From 2021 to 2023, we worked with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and other real estate investors on mapping the myriad of ESG frameworks. The report Mapping ESG: A Landscape Review of Certifications, Reporting Frameworks and Practices was released in April 2023.
The findings enable companies inundated with sustainability reporting requests better tell their story to external stakeholders.
- Describes 14 different reporting frameworks by profiling the ESG components each one.
- Categorizes reporting requirements for specific audiences from general sustainability reporting for broader multi-stakeholder focus to financial reporting for investors.
- Maps criteria to specific ESG categories so teams understand their composition, how they are similar or different, and identify overlaps.
- Reduces the reporting burden to re-focus on results.
Sustainability reporting has evolved quickly over the last 5 years more so than the twenty years prior. More reporting doesn’t necessarily mean clearer communication.
Engagement
2023 Annual ESG Report
Our sixth annual ESG report discusses our engagement program for the past year through investment stewardship, industry advocacy, and being a sustainable business.
Past reports are all found on the Vert Funds site.
2022 Annual TCFD Report
We are supporters of the Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) – an international effort to normalize climate-related financial disclosures and make it common practices for companies. TCFD asks companies to report on governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets.
- 2018 – We formally endorsed the TCFDs.
- 2019 – We engaged our portfolio companies on the TCFDs.
- 2019 – We voluntarily reported TCFD responses in the PRI annual questionnaire.
- 2020 – We integrated the TCFDs into our annual impact report.
We publish this stand alone report to increase accessibility, transparency and to reinforce our belief in the efficacy of the framework.
