GRESB rates Australian fund managers for ESG
The independent organisation which issues Environmental, Social and Governance rating, the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark, or GRESB, has awarded a list of Australian fund managers including Cbus, Charter Hall, ISPT, Vicinity – and especially Lendlease.
Entries for the 2022 accolades attracted 1820 trusts managing US$6.9 trillion across 74 countries.
Most of the participants – 30 per cent – were from the Americas, followed by Europe (16pc).
Fifteen sectors were covered: healthcare, hotels, industrial, office, residential, retail, technology/science, and combinations of these uses.
Considered a world leading assessment performance measure, GRESB data is used by some 170 institutions and financial investors with more than US$51t in assets under management.
Oceania leads way: GRESB
The GRESB assesses development, management and performance with regard to environmentally friendly initiatives, for example, risk assessment, targets, energy and water usage, waste disposal and data monitoring.
Oceania lead the world in regard to ESG, according to the authors, its funds scoring an average 81 rating out of 100.
It is followed by Asia (75), Europe (73) and the United States (72).
The global average score is 74.
Charter Hall, ISPT, Lendlease amongst leaders
GRESB awards benchmarks based on global and regional participation; there are dozens of winners, amongst them trusts managed by heavyweights Hines, M&G and QuadReal.
Australian funds to achieve global accolades include Lendlease’s One International Towers Sydney Trust (LLOITST), which came in first overall for offices with a score of 98.
That manager’s $2 billion Australian Prime Property Fund Commercial was second globally while its Retirement Living Trust, co-controlled with Aware Super, finished on top for Australian retirement funds, classified as a residential category.
“Overall, a Lendlease office fund has been recognised as the world’s most sustainable office real estate fund, claiming first place for eight of the last nine years,” a Lendlease statement said (story continues below).
“This year, all Lendlease funds placed in the Top 10 for their asset category and five achieved a 5-star GRESB rating,” it added.
“In each of the four regions in which Lendlease operates – Australia, Asia, Europe and the Americas – at least one fund achieved a #1 ranking” according to the manager.
Cbus Property and ISPT, for its Core Fund, were also GRESB recognised this year, for the diversified – office/retail category.
ISPT’s 50 Lonsdale Street Property Trust rated too, for the office sector.
Aliro scored recognition as well, for regional/local industrial, with its Aliro Trusco 1 Pty Ltd, as trustee for the Aliro Group Industrial Value Fund.
Joining them, for the diversified – office/industrial class, were Goodman Australia Partnership, Growthpoint Properties Australia and Invesco Real Estate (Asia).
AMP Capital Retail Trust and the Vicinity Centres Direct Portfolio featured for retail.
Two Charter Hall retail funds – the Prime Retail Fund and Retail Partnership 1 – were also benchmarked.
“We are pleased to see our funds perform as global and regional sector leaders with 17 of our funds and partnerships in the top quintile of the GRESBL assessment in 2022,” Charter Hall managing director and group chief executive officer, David Harrison, said.
“We have accelerated our commitment to net zero carbon for Scope 1 and 2 emissions from 2030 to 2025,” he added.
“We believe our approach to sustainability will continue to attract and retain the best tenant and investor customers, while making a valuable contribution to improving our communities and the planet,” according to the executive.
“Combined, our efforts support a lower cost of operation as well as long-term risk adjusted returns for investors across our portfolio”.
Details of all real estate related GRESB accolades can be found following this link.
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