We strive to play a part in supporting positive outcomes for the communities that rely on our assets and the people who are employed by them, while ensuring we have a positive impact as an employer.
~280m
people rely on MAM-managed essential services every day1
240,000+
employees and contractors employed across MAM’s portfolio2
2,500+
people employed within MAM across 25 markets globally3
As an integrated asset manager, we are trusted by institutions and individuals to invest their savings. Through our investments, we also manage critical services and infrastructure that more than 280 million people rely on every day.4 Our team recognises and embraces this responsibility.
Within our private markets businesses, we consider the impact our investments have on the communities that depend on them – including through our custodianship of essential services, reducing inequality in our workforce, improving health and safety at our assets, and protecting human rights in our supply chain.
In our public markets businesses, our investment teams may consider human capital factors such as a company’s ability to attract and retain talent, its approach to diversity and inclusion, and culture when assessing the risks and opportunities associated with their investee companies. These efforts are crucial for achieving certain social targets under the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Within our private markets portfolio, we work to ensure the continuity and improvement of essential community services. This includes developing and operating critical digital infrastructure that connects around 128 million people, powers around 14 million households with gas, treats around 6 billion litres of water daily, and processes 2.9 million tonnes of waste every year.5
We also engage with community groups, customers, partners and tenants across our business through funding, volunteering and in-kind support. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of our portfolio companies provided support for community members facing financial difficulty, funding for medical supplies, free meals for frontline staff, and volunteered time to charities supporting those suffering hardship.
Explore our work in action: Supporting our communities through COVID-19, KCOM (UK)
We actively support our portfolio companies and their teams to ensure their business continuity plans are robust and appropriate precautions are taken to safeguard their employees and customers.”
Leigh Harrison
Head of Real Assets, Macquarie Asset Management
Recognising many people around the world face systemic barriers to employment, a significant proportion of the Macquarie Group Foundation’s funding – provided to over 30 non-profit partners – focuses on building effective pathways to employment. Macquarie volunteers, including MAM employees, further support these organisations by participating in mentoring, training, knowledge sharing and employability programs.
The Foundation also partners with Macquarie’s operating groups through shared value initiatives, which seek to align commercial value with driving social impact. The green jobs program, in partnership with Generation UK and France and our Green Investment Group, aims to provide the skills and knowledge required to work in several industries within the green energy sector. The program launched in the UK in 2021 and in France in 2023 and has already yielded positive results in its first years.
Cross-sector collaboration is critical to the race to net zero and the green jobs revolution. Our partnership with Generation is helping to address barriers to employment, meanwhile creating a pipeline of skilled and motivated candidates to meet the growing demand for crucial green jobs.”
Rachel Engel
Head of Macquarie Group Foundation, EMEA Macquarie Group
Access to affordable housing is not only a basic human need – it can also support a range of economic benefits, including enhanced education, health and employment outcomes. However, the scale of the need for inclusive and affordable housing has continued to increase post COVID-19 due to the rising cost-of-living across the globe. In Australia, we are delivering integrated and sustainable specialist disability accommodation to vulnerable tenants eligible under the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Through our specialised build-to-rent residential businesses – Local in Australia and Goodstone Living in the UK – we are increasing access to sustainable, community-based housing at an affordable price. And in our Private Credit business, we are tailoring long-term finance to the needs of not-for-profit builders and local government authorities in the UK. |
As the single largest expenditure item on most household budgets, housing is an important way to support vulnerable groups and foster more inclusive economic growth.”
Brett Robson
Head of Real Estate, Macquarie Asset Management
We believe that a truly inclusive workforce is fundamental to our success – and that of our investee companies. The diverse experiences, skills and views of our people allow us to make better decisions, deliver a broad range of services to clients around the world, and gain a deeper understanding of the communities in which we operate.
Within Macquarie, we are focused on achieving equitable outcomes by removing barriers to progression and valuing differences, enabling all colleagues to be included and to reach their full potential. In our Private Markets business, we embed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) considerations into our due diligence processes and support our assets to implement board-approved DEI strategies within 18 months of acquisition. And in our Public Investments business, we engage with companies on DEI considerations – including board quality and effectiveness, and the important role that diversity plays in the boardroom.
There is not a one-size-fits-all DEI strategy. We continue to work with our portfolio companies to develop strategies that are tailored to their business, industry and operating environment. This allows companies to truly embrace the benefits of diversity.”
Johnathan Medina
Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Macquarie Asset Management
Investing for a better future starts with everyone going home each day in the same condition they arrived. First and foremost, it's about making sure our activities are safe for workers, users, customers and communities. We believe a safe workplace is also a productive workplace, with a more engaged workforce and a better relationship with the broader community.
Our approach to safety within our private markets businesses starts with a thorough understanding of the company we are investing in. This encompasses a comprehensive transition plan to embed the standards that we know will reduce safety risks to an acceptable level and improve the reliability of the business. We then focus on ensuring an open and transparent culture in the business where employees are encouraged to raise issues and speak up.
Learn more about our approach to workplace health and safety
We maintain a safety-positive culture through agreeing clear health and safety expectations with our business partners, putting safety at the centre of our decision-making, celebrating our successes, and sharing learnings across our portfolio when things go wrong.”
Joachim Geussens
Head of Workplace, Health and Safety, Macquarie Asset Management
In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflicts and climate change have heightened the risk of modern slavery6. In addition to the tragic human consequences, human rights issues can expose companies to significant legal, regulatory, operational and reputational risks. This is why companies must implement processes to identify, manage and prevent adverse human rights impacts, and provide robust disclosures.
In our private markets businesses, modern slavery risks are considered as part of our investment screening and due diligence processes. We also provide targeted engagement and support to nominee directors on portfolio company boards that operate in sectors or markets which may have higher human rights risk. Within our public markets businesses, human and labour rights are considered as an important ESG factor in our company engagement and proxy voting activities.7
Learn more about our approach to human rights and modern slavery
Respect for human rights is strongly associated with value chain resilience and a stable business operating environment. We are committed to working with our portfolio company boards to implement policies and processes for identifying, preventing and remediating negative human rights impacts. This is a complex area and requires ongoing attention.”
Kristina Kloberdanz
Chief Sustainability Officer, Macquarie Asset Management
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- As of March 2023, the number of people reached is calculated by taking an estimate of the number of users for all MAM Real Assets portfolio companies. For example, for a specific toll road, the number of vehicles per day has been multiplied by the average number of passengers in a vehicle (two). Portfolio company data is collected from MAM’s asset management teams on a bi-annual basis.
- As at 31 March 2023. Asset metrics for MAM Private Markets only. Source: MAM Data Management Team.
- As at 31 March 2023.
- As of March 2023, the number of people reached is calculated by taking an estimate of the number of users for all MAM Real Assets portfolio companies. For example, for a specific toll road, the number of vehicles per day has been multiplied by the average number of passengers in a vehicle (two). Portfolio company data is collected from MAM’s asset management teams on a bi-annual basis.
- As of 31 March 2023. Asset metrics for MAM Private Markets only. Source: MAM Data Management Team.
- Global Estimates of Modern Slavery Forced Labour and Forced Marriage, International Labour Organization (ILO), Walk Free, and International Organization for Migration (IOM), September 2022, p.10,https://www.ilo.org/
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Sustainability at Macquarie Asset Management