corporate sustainability.

Lombard Odier has committed to net zero by 2030 for its operations. This means that by 2030 the net impact on the environment from our operations emissions will be zero. Through the 2015 Paris Agreement, world governments committed to curbing global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. In order to achieve this, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions must halve by 2030 and come down to zero by 2050.

Our investments are treated separately from our operations. Lombard Odier has been a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking (UN PRB) since 2020 and has been committed to aligning our Group, and portfolios, with the Paris Agreement by 2050. Further steps have been taken by Lombard Odier Investment Managers (LOIM) as they have signed in 2021 the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAMI). During COP26 in Glasgow, Lombard Odier joined the Glasgow Financial Alliance to Net Zero (GFANZ), which brings together assets owners to accelerate the transition to a net-zero economy. 

As a global wealth and asset manager, we understand that what makes our economies and societies thrive over the long-term will also be good for our business. We thus take into account the social, environmental and economic effects of our actions. As an investor, we support the transition of our economies to more inclusive and sustainable models. We believe that sustainability is the single biggest factor affecting the way we interact with companies today and that it will not only drive returns, but also determine which companies succeed over the long-term. We believe it is essential that we use our products, services and relationships to support and accelerate this transition, and we do this by embedding sustainability in our investment processes and portfolios and through strong collaborative initiatives that contribute to shaping our industry.

In managing our clients’ wealth and assets, we strive for high standards in research, transparency, and sustainability. We seek to help our clients deploy their capital in areas and industries that we believe will be sustainable in terms of their finances, business practices and underlying business models. We have built a robust sustainability investment framework and, in mapping the investment landscape, we have identified several sustainability dynamics that we believe will shape risk, return and corporate success over the next decade. It is our belief that such dynamics are ushering in a new paradigm and exposing investors to certain risks, which include stranded assets¹, regulatory instability, reputational fallout, environmental surtaxes, costs from lengthy court proceedings and heightened market volatility, to name just a few. However, these risks are also a new source of investment opportunities. For example, natural capital, clean energy, low-carbon real estate, enhanced mobility, inclusive technologies and microfinance are all significant areas of innovation that represent considerable growth prospects.

In order to deliver the best services for our clients and provide the best working environment for our employees, we aim to operate our business with a long-term focus.

Our employees are at the centre of our decisions and strategy. Accordingly, we continually develop and adopt initiatives designed to improve the quality of their working lives. Lombard Odier strives to provide an ethical and inclusive workplace for all employees, as outlined in our Code of Conduct and Shared Values and other internal policies.

We seek to engage with suppliers who have adopted meaningful corporate responsibility policies and programmes that cover and actively support ethical conduct, diversity, social responsibility and environmental sustainability. In our Supplier Code of Conduct, we confirm our expectation that all our suppliers will over time align their business practices with the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact³. In this context, we embed sustainability criteria in the selection of our suppliers and sourcing activities. We engage with our suppliers to ensure a sharing of best practices and believe that we can achieve an optimal procurement chain through transparency and accountability.

Lombard Odier has a long history of supporting social improvement through philanthropy. This can take the form of creating new financing solutions or bringing together new partnerships to catalyse action. Our corporate foundation, Fondation Lombard Odier, carries out the philanthropic activities of our Group and its Managing Partners. The Foundation funds forward-looking solutions through catalytic philanthropy and innovative finance to drive positive impact, especially in the fields of education and humanitarian action. Alongside our corporate foundation, with Fondation Philanthropia we also offer an "umbrella foundation" with sheltered dedicated structure to clients.

An aim to make a positive and lasting impact on our communities is embedded in Lombard Odier’s culture. Our partnership with Alaya, a social engagement platform that links companies with volunteer opportunities in their cities or regions, enables Lombard Odier employees in Switzerland who wish to support charities by donating and volunteering, to sign up and contribute to the well-being of our local community.

We are committed to conducting our business activities with high governance and risk standards, in adherence to applicable laws and with internationally accepted principles of good corporate governance.

We have built accountability into our risk management culture and implemented it throughout the Group. We base our risk framework on the ‘three lines of defence’ model. We have a clear sustainability governance.

Our sustainability governance has two key centres of responsibility:

We are part of a broader social and environmental ecosystem, and are signatories to several frameworks and certifications.  We align ourselves with those who are encouraging the transition to a more sustainable economic model. Our commitment to these frameworks, and related reporting requirements, help us to further integrate sustainability in a transparent manner in all our areas of business and operations. The Lombard Odier Group and/or its affiliates are signatories/members of the following initiatives:

¹ https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/answerson/stranded-assets-accounting-climate-change/#:~:text=Ben%20Caldecott%20and%20a%20team,to%20liabilities%20and%20they%20can

² Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling consumed by the reporting company. Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain.

³ https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/un-global-compact-finding-solutions-global-challenges