These values also underpin our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) approach, forming a firm foundation for the way in which we manage Trustmoore and assist our clients, family offices, SPVs and funds. As a corporate and financial service provider, we consider it our responsibility to follow a broad and clear set of policy commitments relating to ESG factors. This ensures alignment with the important objectives of our society, both from a company and client perspective.
The purpose of this statement is to outline our commitment to incorporating ESG considerations throughout our business. It recognizes the importance of managing risk as well as identifying opportunities to deliver value through taking a proactive approach to ESG management.
When creating this statement, we have sought to incorporate and/or align with several recognized global standards which include, but are not limited to, ESG, Sustainable Financial Disclosures Regulation (SFDR) and the EU taxonomies.
Our six company values provide the foundation for this approach and are integral to who we are, how we act, and how we manage our clients:
Always put our clients first
It starts with you. We take a no-nonsense, responsive approach and we keep things as simple and transparent as possible. That way our clients get the services they truly need.
Dare to be you
We have a flat and transparent organization, where everyone can be themselves. We encourage and stimulate professional development and personal growth with equal opportunities for all employees.
Be on top of your game
We don’t just tick boxes. We go the extra mile to make our services and work relations as effective and robust as possible.
Score as a team
We recognize the value of team effort and diversity of thought in problem solving and innovation. Collaboration and support are vital to our working relationship with both clients and colleagues.
Feel free to make it happen
We embrace pro-activeness and believe change is the only way forward. Our policies are designed to give our team and our clients a voice and create space to act on feedback or engage in staff initiatives.
Act soundly
We treat our clients, partners and team with honesty, integrity, fairness, and respect, and this contributes to the strength and longevity of our relationships.
ESG forms an integrated part of our risk assessment framework, which maps out material risks and opportunities within our own organization and those of our clients. As a minimum requirement, we expect clients to comply with all applicable laws and regulations in the countries in which they operate. Over and above this, our framework covers a broad range of impact areas based on our core values, which include (but are not limited to):
Environmental
When we say ‘Act soundly’ we mean this in the broadest sense – it applies to everything around us. It applies to our planet, the jurisdictions in which we operate, and the neighborhoods of our offices.
Our organizational DNA and exclusion list of client companies allow us to reduce our material environmental impact. For us, acting soundly translates into thinking about the future and acting in the now. As a company - and as people - we are aware of the global environmental challenges we are facing in the coming years. That is why we encourage our team and our clients to identify and implement measures to reduce their environmental impact. This includes being efficient with resources, preventing pollution, respecting nature and creating impact analysis with compensating measures, and preventing climate change.
Social
We all know that success and change come from within, that is why ‘Score as a team’ is at the heart of our organization. From the beginning, our founders have been steadfast in their efforts to build a strong and diverse team of people. For our company, it is natural that we are an equal opportunities employer and provide learning and development opportunities for all our employees.
Our global team has always been inclusive from a cultural, gender and sexual orientation perspective. It has been shown time and again that this diversity of thought is invaluable in problem solving and innovation. We support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed Human Rights and we do not tolerate unfair, discriminatory, illegal, or immoral work practices within our internal team, in the relationship with our clients, or within the supply chain. We encourage our clients to show responsible business conduct, supporting a fair society and a healthy and sustainable economy by creating transparency, preventing bribery and corruption, and avoiding fiscal erosion.
Encouraging open communication allows us to ensure a safe working environment, which in turn promotes positive staff wellbeing. We proudly show our colors in our day-to-day work as well as in our non-profit initiatives outside of work. Whether it is supporting young African entrepreneurs, our ongoing partnership to help young underprivileged baseball talent, or simply our own all-embracing intercompany culture and events, all are based on an intrinsic conviction that we are all people who like to be treated as people.
Governance
Corporate governance is the combination of processes and structures implemented by the local regulator and the Board, which inform, direct, manage and monitor the activities of the organization towards the achievement of its objectives. We view governance as an opportunity to set up transparent and thesis-driven procedures and controls in a trustworthy manner for our clients. That is part of our value ‘Be on top of your game’. Don’t just tick the boxes that are required by legislation. Go the extra mile and make our organization and work relations as robust and secure as possible.
We foster a flat and transparent organization, driven by leadership through support and example. We stimulate equal opportunities for all our team members. We have many female leaders in our organization, for example, and our internal academy enables professional and personal growth across all experience levels.
Complementing our ESG values, our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) measures are designed to protect personal data and safeguard against acts of bribery and corruption, internal or market misconduct, and cyber security.
We are well respected for our thesis-driven approach, no-nonsense culture, and broad senior experience in servicing our clients.
Building on our ‘Always put your client first’ value, we are a responsible service provider and in-house part of your (management) team. We believe that understanding the operational aspects of a business, in addition to its financial and legal profile, allows us to service more effectively and generate added value. This means taking an active role in our client relations, going beyond Board participation, and working in partnership with management to grow and develop the business and solve problems together.
We aim to incorporate ESG factors across our clients’ lifecycle, alongside more traditional CSR policies. These activities mitigate business risk but also help us to establish future growth and create long-term sustainable value. The process we follow to integrate ESG considerations in our services is set out as follows:
ESG in our clients’ lifecycle
Client set-up
Due diligence exercise to identify and understand CSR and ESG risks and opportunities.
Engage ESG specialists where required by clients to update their policy
Post set-up
Ongoing screening plan to ensure key material risks and opportunities are addressed by Trustmoore as a service provider, together with management.
Client set-up
A comprehensive ESG due diligence is conducted for each potential investment. Within the ESG due diligence, we assess whether there are any red flags (e.g. unmanageable sustainability risks) that should prevent us from proceeding with providing services. Through this process, we identify key sustainability risks as well as opportunities and define appropriate mitigating or integration activities.
Examples of sustainability risks assessed include (where relevant) inter alia risks related to the environment, health and safety, people, suppliers and customers, community and charity, and governance.
Within the proprietary ESG due diligence framework, we derive the likely impacts of sustainability risks qualitatively from the allocated risk grading on a low/ medium/ high scale.
Post set-up (goal for the future)
Trustmoore provides clients with the appropriate tools and guidance required to assess and manage sustainability risks. Throughout the ownership phase, we challenge and support clients to enhance and further develop their ESG-related achievements and disclosures. Specifically, we encourage clients to identify and implement measures to reduce environmental impact, including energy, waste and water reduction. We also require clients to be equal opportunity employers and to provide learning and development opportunities for employees.
Day-to-day implementation
We commit to communicating this policy to all employees, clients and partners. We have a dedicated global ESG team as well as a junior employee ESG think tank. Both work closely with our global compliance team to discuss ESG management at periodic review meetings. The global compliance team will report any relevant material ESG concerns to the executive board in their quarterly valuation reports on a case-by-case basis, as appropriate.
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