Our Materiality Map helps keep our sight lines further out on the horizon, to help make sure we are innovating and evolving in a way that is in the best interests of our clients, our employees and our communities.
Committed to Our Principles
At Breckinridge, our sense of stewardship extends beyond our client portfolios to encompass our community and the larger environment. Sustainability is fully woven into the fabric of our investment approach and business operations, driving investment rigor and long term business continuity.
Breckinridge was a first mover a decade ago when we integrated ESG in fixed income security research. We commit time and resources to advance ESG analysis and broader adoption of sustainability in investments and business operations. Our collaboration with peers, non-government organizations, academics and thought leaders reflects the intentionality that defines our efforts.
Breckinridge is a member or signatory of a wide range of industry networks, initiatives and associations. We publish reports and articles on sustainable investing topics in collaboration with other thought leaders. We advocate for best practices in sustainability reporting.
Our partnerships and collaborations allow us to share our intellectual capital with investors and issuers and they strengthen our issuer engagement efforts.
Our partnerships and collaborations allow us to share our intellectual capital with investors and issuers and they strengthen our issuer engagement efforts.
Net Zero Commitment
In line with our commitment to forward-looking investing, in December 2021 we signed the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative. The Initiative comprises an international group of asset managers who support the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner and whose investing approach is aligned with reaching net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner.
Committing to the Initiative reaffirms our focus on long-term investing and stated mission to facilitate a sustainable flow of capital from long-term investors to responsible bond issuers. Achieving net zero emissions supports long-term risk mitigation, as the global community transitions to a low carbon future.
A Company Wide Culture of Sustainability
We manage investments and our business for long-term value creation. Our company is an independent, Massachusetts Benefit Corporation and a certified B Corp. We are a private company owned by current and past employees and Board members. This structure and designation support our pursuit of long-term positive impact for our clients, employees and the communities in which we live, work and invest.
“Once we recognized the relevance of ESG factors to the long-term success of a bond issuer, it necessarily followed that Breckinridge would examine its own business in the same manner as we do our investments,” explains Peter Coffin. “We work to engage more fully with our own community and stakeholders. Our certification as a B Corp provides the systematic framework for assessing our ESG performance, and our charter as a Benefit Corporation reflects our ongoing commitment to this assessment. We hold firm to our values and our belief in managing for the long term.”
Our employee-directed sustainability committee includes members from across the firm. Our Materiality Map focuses our efforts on what is most material to our firm: business ethics, HCM, client experience, risk management, ESG integration in financial analysis, corporate citizenship and operations and supply chain.
For more insight on our Materiality Map and sustainability efforts, we encourage you to review our Corporate Sustainability Report.
We donate 1 percent of gross revenues annually, resulting in more than $3 million in charitable contributions since 2011. In addition, Breckinridge provides every employee with three days of time to contribute their efforts in the community, which generated more than 1250 hours of volunteer time in 2019 and 2020.
What Risks Lie Hidden In Your Fixed Income Portfolio?
We ask questions that go beyond financial statements and search for risks that others may overlook.
We believe our sustainability analysis adds rigor to traditional analytical approaches. We seek to broaden the scope of fundamental credit analysis by examining ESG factors that may affect a bond issuer’s future ability to repay. By considering these long-term trends, we strive to prepare our clients for the future.
Contact Breckinridge at info@breckinridge.com or cr@breckinridge.com to learn more or for assistance transitioning your current fixed income strategies to a sustainable approach.