Anne Crijns & Kim Lubbers | ESG Associate & Senior Portfolio Manager
Collaborating for the best sustainable solutions for our clients at Van Lanschot Kempen
Our purpose, to preserve and create wealth in a sustainable way, informs our sustainability beliefs: to promote dialogue, to help our clients navigate transitions and to lead by example. We work with our clients to find the most relevant solutions for their financial and societal goals.
Anne says: "We've selected three focus themes where we’re a relative leader through our own operations and where we can engage with our clients and investee companies to raise their sustainability standards as well. Those themes are climate, biodiversity, and inclusion and diversity. For each focus theme, we’ve identified a set of KPIs."
Kim is an ESG ambassador for her team at Investment Management Clients, maintaining a strong link between the business and the ESG team as we work towards our goals. "We take ESG credentials into account for every company we invest in, as well as their financials," she explains. "Different clients have varying appetites for sustainability, and we have options for all levels. But our commitment goes across the board – to deliver on our purpose and comply with all relevant regulation."
The Corporate Sustainability team works closely with our portfolio managers to learn from – and challenge – each other. When it comes to EU regulations, for example, Anne and Kim work together to translate guidelines into tangible implementation steps, such as exclusion criteria. "We help by advising and connecting people," says Anne. "If client-facing teams have questions, we’re able to move fast, and I can also approach them about sharpening our goals and reporting on our progress."
Kim adds: "We also work together on our engagement activities, which this year mainly focused on biodiversity. Our portfolio managers learned more about this topic from Anne and were able to ask the right questions in our engagement meetings. We’re very happy to have such strong in-house sparring partners."
Anne says: "We've selected three focus themes where we’re a relative leader through our own operations and where we can engage with our clients and investee companies to raise their sustainability standards as well. Those themes are climate, biodiversity, and inclusion and diversity. For each focus theme, we’ve identified a set of KPIs."
Kim is an ESG ambassador for her team at Investment Management Clients, maintaining a strong link between the business and the ESG team as we work towards our goals. "We take ESG credentials into account for every company we invest in, as well as their financials," she explains. "Different clients have varying appetites for sustainability, and we have options for all levels. But our commitment goes across the board – to deliver on our purpose and comply with all relevant regulation."
The Corporate Sustainability team works closely with our portfolio managers to learn from – and challenge – each other. When it comes to EU regulations, for example, Anne and Kim work together to translate guidelines into tangible implementation steps, such as exclusion criteria. "We help by advising and connecting people," says Anne. "If client-facing teams have questions, we’re able to move fast, and I can also approach them about sharpening our goals and reporting on our progress."
Kim adds: "We also work together on our engagement activities, which this year mainly focused on biodiversity. Our portfolio managers learned more about this topic from Anne and were able to ask the right questions in our engagement meetings. We’re very happy to have such strong in-house sparring partners."
