At Belay Investment Group, we recognize the importance of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors to help drive sustainable value creation for our stakeholders. Our commitment to transparent and effective ESG governance is managed at the highest levels of our organization.

The Belay Managing Partners are responsible for oversight of the Company’s ESG programs, including ensuring that the Company has appropriate ESG policies, guidelines and resources to effectively implement our ESG programs. The Belay Managing Partners receive regular updates on ESG performance, risks, and initiatives through our Core Values Committee, which includes senior management as well as other members of our Investment, Operations and Administrative teams. The Core Values Committee is responsible for assessing and managing ESG related risks and opportunities, including climate risk.

Please see below for our ESG Policy.

Belay Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) Policy

ESG Mission Statement

Belay Investment Group (“Belay”) is committed to adopting and implementing sustainable and responsible investment principles in a manner that is consistent with our investment philosophy and our fiduciary responsibilities to our investors. Belay recognizes the importance of considering environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) considerations as part of our investment process and policies. The Belay Investment Group ESG Policy (the “Policy” or “ESG Policy”) is intended to provide a framework for how we apply ESG considerations to how we operate our business, how we engage with the communities in which we do business and the way in which we pursue, evaluate, and implement investments. 

Belay invests in real estate companies, joint venture partnerships, and other real estate investment vehicles. To implement our ESG program, we assess and monitor operating partners based on environmental, climate change, social and governance issues with the goal of improving performance and minimizing adverse impacts. Belay invests with firms that manage all property types including office, retail, industrial, multifamily and mixed-use real estate.

We believe that responsible investment defined as the integration of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) considerations into investment management processes and ownership practices can have an impact on financial performance and positively affect the performance of real estate investment portfolios to varying degrees across property types, geographies, vintages, and over time. We reasonably consider ESG during our due diligence on an investment and it is monitored throughout an investment’s lifespan, as appropriate. Depending on the type of investment, we will have differing levels of control and transparency during the underwriting process and after an investment has been made, which change the way we assess and integrate ESG factors. Overall, we seek to maximize our portfolio-level risk-adjusted returns. In doing so, we seek to address any risks to overall portfolio performance caused by individual operating partners’ contribution to systematic sustainability issues. Belay reviews ESG considerations at the firm level, operating partner level, and the property level.

We are committed to incorporating the following principles for responsible investment into our investment considerations:

• We will incorporate ESG considerations into investment analysis and decision-making processes.
• We will be active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.
• We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG considerations by the entities through which we invest.
• We will promote acceptance and implementation of ESG considerations within the investment industry.
• We will work together to enhance our effectiveness in implementing the principles.
• We will report on our activities and progress towards implementing the principles.

Environmental

Belay acknowledges that commercial property is a significant source of energy consumption and GHG emissions. Additionally, we recognize that climate change may cause physical and transitional risks to our properties in the near, medium and long-term. We are committed to identifying, assessing and reasonably addressing climate risk and to conduct sustainability initiatives compliant with national and local laws and regulations. We believe that providing resilient properties, reducing pollution and waste, using natural resources sustainability, increasing energy and water efficiency and using clean technology to the best of our abilities and within our investment parameters will benefit our investors, tenants, employees and operating partners.

Social

Belay believes that all persons are equally entitled to inherent international human rights, including but not limited to equal opportunity, the freedom to associate and bargain collectively, and prohibitions against the use of modern slavery, human trafficking, forced labor and harmful or exploitative forms of child labor. We seek to contribute to a world where economic development is not conducted at the detriment of vulnerable groups, regions or future generations whether through intended or unintended outcomes. We are equally committed to providing, improving and promoting equal working conditions and opportunities based on industry standards for diversity, equity and inclusion. We strive to promote health and safety for our employees and through our operating partners for our building occupiers, and to additionally engage these groups in our ESG efforts. We recognize that our buildings play an important role in the communities in which they serve. We strive to understand both intended and unintended consequences of those investments and to work with our operating partners to ensure that our investments are a positive contribution to their local communities.

Human Rights

Belay recognizes that businesses have a responsibility to respect internationally recognized human rights, including social, workforce, economic, cultural, civil and political concerns. Belay is fully committed to respecting human rights, including respecting the dignity and worth of all employees, and encouraging all employees to reach their full potential. Belay is an equal opportunity employer.

Belay:

• Recognizes its responsibilities with regards to workplace health and safety, employee privacy and freedom of association;
• Prohibits the use of forced labor and child labor;
• Does not tolerate any form of harassment or discrimination; and
• Works to ensure compliance with applicable labor and employment laws, including those regulating wages and hours.

Additionally, Belay is committed to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across our own firm as well as within our operator companies. We strive to attract, recruit and retain representation of individuals from different geographies, cultures, ethnicities, religions, races, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, and generations. We provide an environment that encourages team members to thrive with access to the same treatment, opportunities, compensation and advancement based on their skills, knowledge, and abilities. We implement a culture where all team members are respected, have a sense of belonging, are given a voice and are supported to reach their full potential.

Governance

Belay recognizes the importance of good corporate governance, including accountability, fairness, anti-money laundering, transparency and disclosure. Our Code of Ethics is a statement of our commitment to integrity and the highest ethical standards in all we do. 

Through our engagement with our operating partners, we work to improve ESG risk management and develop more sustainable business practices and risk management systems, including review of climate risk. ESG issues are an important part of Belay’s investment analysis, risk management and due diligence processes. Additionally, compliance with all local and national laws, including sustainability standards and benchmarking, are material components of our investment management responsibilities to our clients.

Our Managing Principals have formal oversight over and accountability for responsible investment, including environmental, climate risk, social, human rights, diversity, equity & inclusion, governance, stewardship and sustainability outcomes as they impact the specific assets that we hold. We also assign specific accountability to internal staff to implement our ESG efforts and may use external ESG consultants as needed.

Transparency

Belay is committed to timely and accurate disclosure of our ESG performance including environmental, social, governance, climate and benchmarking-related disclosures, and stewardship activities. We report our responsible investment activities through globally recognized reporting frameworks such as the Principles for Responsible Investment, as well as through other updates to clients and through our website.  

Scope

We expect that companies with whom we invested after the effective date of our first ESG policy will agree to uphold the policies and processes described in this ESG policy or have their own ESG policy of similar quality and scope. Our Stewardship Policy applies to all investments.

Stewardship

Engagement with Operating Partners: Our primary stewardship objective is to maximize overall long-term value for our clients’ interests, which can also be enhanced by social and environmental factors. In doing so, we seek to address any risks to overall portfolio performance caused by individual operating partners’ contribution to systematic sustainability issues. Our primary stewardship tool across our organization is engagement with our operating partners’, including environmental, health, safety, climate change (including exposure to increasingly severe or unpredictable weather events), social and governance issues, as well as regulatory and transition risks.

Overall Engagement: Our secondary stewardship tool is collaboration. We recognize that to be effective, stewardship requires collective action. Thus, stewardship collaboration with other like-minded organizations and real estate companies through industry associations that set ESG standards is the most effective way that we can participate in external engagement activities. We contribute to the public good through participation in ESG surveys and research, and participate in policy consultations and provide technical input on potential ESG policy issues through industry organizations when we have the ability to do so. We believe that our involvement in creating productive ESG standards in our industry is the best way for us to engage with policy makers to support a more sustainable real estate market.