CBRE Global Investors announces another year of strong results in key Environmental, Social Governance (ESG) benchmarks.

Voluntary reporting is a key element of CBRE Global Investors’ approach to ESG. Industry-specific initiatives such as the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) give a valuable insight into the business’s ESG performance compared to their peers. This motivates innovation and continually improves performance to demonstrate leadership.

In 2019, CBRE Global Investors participated in the GRESB survey with more portfolios than ever: Two in North America, three in APAC region and fifteen in Europe.

The aggregated EMEA portfolio has achieved five stars rating (87 points, increasing from 77 in 2018), while the global aggregated portfolio received four stars (85 points, increasing from 74 in 2018). Each portfolio has shown a robust year-on-year improvement, continuing the trend for five years running, and significantly increasing the lead on GRESB and Peer average.

The CBRE Global Investors Dutch Office Fund and Retail Property Fund Iberica won double accolades as Regional Sector Leaders and Overall Regional Sector Leaders, achieving the highest score in their peer group (based on the combination of nature of ownership, region and sector) demonstrating outstanding leadership in sustainability.

The CBRE Global Investors Dutch High Street Club is now globally the number one high street retail fund, while the Dutch Office Fund holds first place amongst all European portfolios reporting to GRESB.

A record nine funds are in the top 20% of the entire GRESB universe, achieving the five star status for the fifth quintile, and a further four funds are in the fourth quintile.

Also, this year CBRE Global Investors’ PRI results show continued outperformance, since first joining the initiative in 2009, achieving a leading A+ rating for overall Strategy and Governance.

• Strategy & Governance: A+ (median: A)
• Indirect: A+ (median: B)
• Listed Equity – Incorporation: A+ (median: B)
• Listed Equity – Active Ownership: B (median: B)
• Property: A (median: B)

Aleksandra Njagulj, Global Head of ESG at CBRE Global Investors commented: “PRI and GRESB results are good indicators of the overall quality of company or portfolio’s ESG practices. These are the most comprehensive systems available to the industry to verify sustainability performance in real assets investment and identify areas for improvement. That said, we do not integrate ESG in every stage of an investment lifecycle because of these benchmarks. We do this because sustainability is a fundamental part of our business strategy, and because we seek to deliver world-class investment results. A strong performance in ESG benchmarks is just one of the outcomes.”  

This article was originally published here.