Legg Mason Issues 2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Report
At Legg Mason, CSR is more than just ESG investment capabilities; it’s how we conduct our business.
October 26, 2015 /3BL Media/ - Legg Mason is one of the world’s largest asset management firms. We have a local presence around the globe serving individual and institutional investors across six continents. We strive to be a responsible global company in the asset management business that, through investing, meaningfully impacts the lives of all the constituencies with whom we interact.
Legg Mason is committed to the Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) space and, as of March 31, 2015 approximately 14% of the firm’s total long-term assets under management were invested specifically in ESG strategies. The firm increased the combined AUM of our Affiliates’ ESG strategies to more than $80 Billion over the past fiscal year.
This was an exciting year for Legg Mason as we conducted our first Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) materiality analysis. In general, “Materiality” refers to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) topics that will have the potential of impacting a company now and in the future, and reflect stakeholder priorities in terms of the impact the company has on the world. Through this process we were able to zero in on our most material topics and define corresponding key performance indicators (“KPIs”) important to Legg Mason and our stakeholders.
Legg Mason Chief Financial Officer, Pete Nachtwey, Executive Sponsor of Legg Mason’s Environmental Sustainability Council, said, “There is no doubt that more investors each day are coming to believe that focusing on ESG principles can help deliver what everyone wants: strong, risk-adjusted performance over the long term. As asset managers, our Affiliates’ opportunities exist to bring even greater CSR focus to the investment side of our business. I’m proud of the terrific CSR platform Legg Mason has created – and continues to improve.”
We will continue to post about some of the highlights of our CSR report including KPIs from our materiality analysis and about the work we’re doing for the environment and our people and communities.
To view the full CSR report and how Legg Mason is investing to improve lives, visit http://www.leggmason.com/csr/.
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