David Paine

ASI was awarded 33 “green stars” in an annual assessment by GRESB, the highest number of stars awarded to any participant this year and seven more than ASI had last year.

The GRESB Real Estate Assessment measures a fund’s ESG performance, awarding green stars for reaching an absolute level of performance and a score out of five for performance relative to other participants.

Four of ASI’s funds were awarded five-star status, placing them in the top 20% of its peers. Additionally, three of ASI’s funds achieved “sector leader” status, meaning they have the highest ESG performance of their peer group.

GRESB is one important part of how ASI measures and benchmarks ESG performance. Recognising that measurement should further reflect the complexities and differences of real estate portfolios, ASI has recently launched a new ESG Impact Dial tool. This allows performance and measurement to be tailored to a Fund’s specific requirements and characteristics.

David Paine, global co-head of real estate at ASI, said: “We are very pleased with this year’s performance, which once again represents an impressive set of scores. For a number of years we have focused on enhancing our ability to communicate our ESG performance to clients and the wider industry. As a result, we have recently launched a new bespoke tool - the ESG Impact Dial, which is the first of its kind in the real estate asset management industry.

“It gives us the unique ability to tailor investors’ ESG aspirations and to fully integrate these into real estate management. ESG in real estate is complex and diverse. Our innovative approach means that one size no longer has to fit all – and our GRESB results validate our approach.”

Pertti Vanhanen, global co-head of real estate, added: “The strong track record we now have with GRESB endorses our commitment to sustainable, social and environmental principles, which are firmly embedded in our real estate operations and investment across the business. Not only does this deliver better financial outcomes and investment performance for our clients and tenants, but we have achieved improved environmental and social outcomes.

“Our aim is to create a positive society from the built environment, providing the places where people want to live, work, shop and enjoy life. We will continue to drive this agenda forward, making further improvements in our real estate business.”