Our ESG Philosophy As an active manager, our purpose is to deliver compelling investment results for our clients over the long term, supporting them to achieve their investment objectives. We have a longstanding belief that material environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are an important driver of long-term investment returns. We take a comprehensive approach toward managing client assets, including the integration of ESG criteria into our investment processes. We also understand that for many clients, the environmental and social impact of their portfolios is considered of equal importance as the investment performance. Despite having a dedicated ESG Investing team, we take a decentralized approach to ESG integration, whereby investment professionals throughout the firm are responsible for incorporating material ESG factors in portfolios and investment research. From our first application of “avoidance screens” in the early 1940s to the launch of our U.S. Sustainable Equity team in 1989, Neuberger Berman has been at the forefront of integrating ESG factors into investment processes. Today, we continue to innovate, driven by our belief that ESG factors, like any other factor, should be incorporated in a manner consistent with the specific asset class, investment objective and style of each investment strategy. ESG factors can be employed in a variety of ways to help generate enhanced returns, mitigate risk and meet specific client objectives within a portfolio. We believe that our approach, which is focused on maximizing results for our clients, can also support better- functioning capital markets and have a positive impact for people and the planet. We are excited to expand our public commitments around managing climate-related risk across the firm by partnering with our clients, who share our ambition of achieving net-zero emissions, on seeking to develop and achieve net-zero portfolios. We will also continue to deepen the robustness of our proprietary, analyst-led ESG insights and engagement efforts to drive meaningful change over time.
In 2021, almost half of our top 100 institutional clients made some form of net-zero commitment, thereby placing ESG at the core of their long-term investment objectives. It has been a privilege to work closely with many of them on putting these commitments into practice, and to try to collectively change the climate trajectory of the planet.
JONATHAN H. BAILEY Head of ESG Investing
4 2021 ESG ANNUAL REPORT
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