B Capital Group Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Policy
As a major investment firm with global reach, B Capital Group (“B Capital” or “the Firm”) has a significant impact on the regions within which the Firm conducts business. We recognize our responsibility to be good stewards of the environment and society at large, and have included a number of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations within our research-driven due diligence process.
B Capital believes that considering the Firm’s broader impacts on the environment and society and following through with our ESG practices will lead to better investment outcomes. The Firm takes its responsibility seriously and continually monitors the broad consequences of every investment to ensure all stakeholders’ needs are considered. Accordingly, we’ve aligned our ESG policy with the American Investment Council’s (AIC) comprehensive Guidelines Responsible Investing.
When making investments, B Capital takes the following considerations into account:
- Consider environmental, public health, safety, and social issues associated with target companies when evaluating whether to invest in a particular entity, as well as during the period of ownership.
- Be accessible to relevant stakeholders either directly or through representatives of portfolio companies, as appropriate.
- Seek to grow and improve the companies in which the Firm invests through long-term sustainability initiatives, while also considering stakeholders on environmental, social and governance issues. B Capital will work through appropriate governance structures (e.g. board of directors) with portfolio companies with respect to environmental, public health, safety, and social issues, with the goal of improving performance and minimizing adverse impacts in these areas.
- Seek to use governance structures that provide appropriate level of oversight in the areas of audit, risk management and potential conflicts of interest and to implement compensation and other polices that align the interests of our funds and management.
- Remain committed to compliance with applicable national, state and local laws in countries in which the Firm invests; support the payment of competitive wages and benefits to employees, provide a safe and healthy workplace in the conformance with national and local law; and, consistent with applicable law, respect the rights of employees to decide whether or not to join a union and engage in collective bargaining.
- Maintain strict policies that prohibit bribery and other improper payments to public officials consistent with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, similar laws in other countries, and the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.
- Respect the human rights of those affected by our investment activities and seek to confirm that our investments do not flow to companies that utilize child or forced labor or maintain discriminatory policies.
- Provide information to limited partners on the matters addressed herein, and work to foster transparency about our activities.
- Encourage our portfolio companies to advance these same principles in a way which is consistent with fiduciary duties.