Successful Businesses. Stronger Economies
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Successful businesses. Stronger economies. Expanded opportunities. Sustainable communities. What will it take to succeed? A commitment to apply what we do best — not just today, but every day, everywhere we do business. Goldman Sachs 2011 Environmental, Social and Governance Report Table of Contents Letter to Shareholders 2 In this report we relied on the Global Reporting Our Firm 3 Initiative’s G3 Guidelines to identify the key 2011: Highlights at a Glance 4 issues we covered. More information about the Global Reporting Initiative is available on Environmental 6 its website at www.globalreporting.org. Governance 16 Social 26 This report covers January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011 unless otherwise noted. Metrics 36 More detailed and up-to-date information Awards and Rankings 38 related to this report is available on our website Contact Information 40 at www.goldmansachs.com/esgreport. At Goldman Sachs, we are actively engaged in addressing environmental, social and governance issues every day, throughout our businesses. Sound governance and a responsible approach to social and environmental risks begin with our people. Our commitment to these values extends to the communities where we live and work. We strive to amplify our effectiveness by leveraging our core capabilities and through close collaboration with our stakeholders around the world, including shareholders, clients, employees, regulators and the broader public. Fellow Shareholders We are pleased to present our annual As a responsible employer of choice, we people to act and make decisions with a greater Environmental, Social and Governance Report, promote a highly diverse workforce and and broader degree of accountability in all that an overview of the many ways in which Goldman encourage our people to give back to society they do, and to serve as our ambassadors of this Sachs impacts our clients, investors and the through intellectual capital, volunteer work commitment. As this report demonstrates, we markets and communities that we serve every day. and charitable donations. In doing so, we will also continue to engage more consistently work closely with our stakeholders and and proactively in collaboration with our many Without question, 2011 was a challenging collaborate with our communities to address constituents and the broader public. year for the global economy as well as a period social and economic challenges. of continued uncertainty for markets and our In short, given our reach and range of business industry as a whole. Despite these conditions, we As a result of feedback we have received activities in markets around the world, we have remained mindful of how we can continue from our constituents, we have also increased are working diligently towards being the best to improve upon our business and operating transparency across a variety of important areas steward we can be. This is important to our practices around the world. As a global financial that pertain to how we approach our business. clients, our shareholders and the communities institution, we acknowledge that our obligations In this report, we provide an update on the in which we work and live. As we hope you will reach beyond a singular focus on achieving progress of our Business Standards Committee, see in the pages that follow, our resolve to be a returns for our shareholders, and realize that outlining the steps we have taken to ensure that leader on environmental, social and governance how we approach every aspect of our corporate a focus on the highest standards of client service issues permeates our culture, and is manifested responsibilities has a real effect on our ability to and reputational judgment remains at the fore in small and big ways every day. be successful over the long term. For the people of our thinking and actions. And we are proud Thank you, and we look forward to your of Goldman Sachs, stewardship is not tangential to share that at the end of 2011, Goldman Sachs continued feedback and support. to our business; it is integral to it. Asset Management became a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Sincerely, By helping our diverse set of clients achieve their Investment, codifying our commitment to factor goals and objectives, we play an important role in environmental, social and governance issues in promoting economic progress and sustainable when investing on behalf of our asset growth, which has lasting benefits both for our management clients. shareholders and for the public at large. We Lloyd C. Blankfein provide governments, companies and individuals As we move forward, our firm and the financial Chairman and Chief Executive Officer with advice, access to capital, asset management services industry must continue to work towards and other critical services. An important restoring a reputation that was tarnished as a component of our mission of facilitating growth result of the financial crisis, and we are also and investment is our ongoing commitment to deeply cognizant of the importance of regaining Gary D. Cohn strengthening our approach to environmental, and rebuilding the public’s trust during this President and Chief Operating Officer social and governance issues, and to enhancing pivotal time for markets and economies. At the our strong risk management practices. same time, we are training and empowering our 2 Goldman Sachs 2011 Environmental, Social and Governance Report Our Firm Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 by Marcus Goldman, who launched his GOLDMAN SACHS’ RELATIVE OUTPERFORMANCE business by transacting in promissory notes. Samuel Sachs, Marcus Goldman’s son-in-law, joined the firm in 1882. Goldman Sachs developed innovative ways of Our using commercial paper to provide funding to entrepreneurs and merchants, and Average ROE by the beginning of the 20th century had become the largest commercial paper 26.8% Outperformance 12.8 dealer in the country. In the years since, Goldman Sachs has been on the cutting edge of many other areas of finance, including the underwriting of initial stock offerings of companies such Core Competitor1 as Sears and Ford in the early and mid-twentieth century; the evolution of “market Average ROE 14.0% Our making” in the 1970s, in which investment banks play the role of financial Average ROE Outperformance 9.1 intermediaries between buyers and sellers; and in the transformation of investment Core 9.9% Competitor banking in the 1980s, to make it more responsive to clients’ increasingly multifaceted Average ROE 0.8% needs. Since the 1990s, Goldman Sachs has been at the forefront of advising clients on the impact of globalization and the increasing influence of the BRICs and other FISCAL 2004–2007 FISCAL 2008–2011 Growth Markets. As technology has taken on an increasingly important role in 1 Our core competitors are Bank of America Corporation, Citigroup, Inc., global markets, Goldman Sachs has been a leading innovator in developing JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Morgan Stanley technology to more efficiently and effectively serve our clients’ needs. ROE = Return on Equity Over the years, our firm has grown into a global bank with diversified product GS EMPLOYEES COUNTRIES WITH GS OFFICES offerings to meet our clients’ needs around the world. Goldman Sachs remained a private partnership until our Initial Public Offering in May of 1999. In our last +149% +43% quarter as a private company, our workforce included roughly 13,000 employees, working in 46 offices and approximately 23 countries. Thirteen years later, our 32,400 33 workforce has grown to 32,400 employees (15,700 of whom work outside of the Americas) in approximately 54 offices and in 33 countries. 23 Today, our clients — who include corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals — continue to look to Goldman Sachs for a variety 13,000 of needs, including advice, financing, market liquidity, and risk and asset management. In each instance, however, they share a common expectation that the services we provide are of the highest quality and reflective of the significant impact that we can 1Q 99 1Q 12 1Q 99 1Q 12 have on the broader market, communities and society as a whole. For further information about our commitment to clients, please see www.goldmansachs.com/who-we-are 3 2011: Highlights at a Glance Environmental Social Governance January 6 March 8 Los Angeles–Long Beach U.S. Depar tment June 2 Mayors Join Goldman of State Announces Bernstein Strategic Sachs to Support Small New Partnership April 4 Decisions Conference Businesses in California February 7 with Goldman Sachs Kickoff of Community President and COO 28 Long Beach and FELA! Behind on International TeamWorks 2011 Gary Cohn presents. 24 Los Angeles small the Scenes with Women’s Day May 5 business owners represent Bill T. Jones and Hillary Clinton and April 4 Vendor Information June 3 the inaugural 10,000 Stephen Hendel Lloyd Blankfein reveal Risk Forum Stanford Business School Small Businesses class In celebration of Black new partnership through Goldman Goldman Sachs hosts CFO David Viniar presents for the region. History Month, we hold a 10,000 Women. Sachs Ranks sixth Vendor Information about risk management at a discussion about Afrobeat Risk Forum, with a focus conference on bank capital January 9 legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, March 20 No. 2 in World’s on cyber security and and liquidity. Goldman Sachs artist and political activist. Goldman Sachs Teams resiliency risks. Launches “Basketball with Shaq on Newark Greenest June 23 for Kids” in Japan February 10 Theater Expansion Banks List May 6 KiOR, a $150 Million IPO This new program gives Business Standards UIG is the lead investor in Goldman Sachs serves as 200 underprivileged Committee Shareholder the project, which will be by Bloomberg Annual Bookrunner for the first children the opportunity Outreach Meeting with built by The O'Neal Group This inaugural list highlights Meeting of publicly traded renewable to attend professional Board Members and and partner Boraie the firm’s investments in products company to produce basketball games.