Environmental Social Governance Impact Who We Are Who We Are the Paper Used in This Report Is 100% Post-Consumer Waste, FSC* Certified, and Made with Wind Power
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2019 Annual Report Environmental Social Governance Impact Who We Are Who We Are The paper used in this report is 100% post-consumer waste, FSC* certified, and made with wind power. * Forest Stewardship Council. FSC certification ensures that products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social, and economic benefits. Legal Statement This report was created to summarize Cerberus’, and certain of its portfolio companies’, Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) program only. It is not intended to summarize or describe any investment performance of the Cerberus Funds and Accounts or individual investments. The information contained herein may contain “forward looking statements.” Such forward looking statements, which can sometimes be identified by the use of terminology such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “target”, “intend”, “believe”, “continue” or other variations or comparable language, are subject to various risks and uncertainties and actual events or results may differ materially. As such, they should not be relied on in any manner. This Report is provided solely for informational purpose only. It is not intended to be, nor should it be construed or used as, an offer to sell or a solicitation or any offer to buy, an interest in any Cerberus Fund or Account. Cerberus personnel generally adhere to the Cerberus ESG policy stated herein in connection with the exercise of their professional responsibilities, including their duty to manage various investments held by the Funds and Accounts. The ability and rights of Cerberus personnel to impose the Cerberus ESG policy on a portfolio company or other related investment is strictly limited to the rights such personnel may exercise (or elections they may make) as the representative of an investor, member or partner in the entity that owns such investment, subject to the organizational documents relating to such investment. Nothing herein shall imply (or be construed to suggest) that Cerberus (or any of its personnel or representatives) controls the management, policies or actions of any other company (including portfolio companies) to any extent beyond that which may be expressly set forth in the organization documents of such company. It is the policy of Cerberus to respect the corporate structure and to require that each of its affiliated companies (including portfolio companies) govern itself in accordance with its organizational documents. 2 | 2019 Cerberus ESG Report 2019 Cerberus ESG Report | 1 Contents Introduction 1 Who We are At Cerberus, we believe responsibly addressing certain environmental and social issues, as well as prudent governance, helps to mitigate risk Message from the ESG Committee Chairman 6 and create more valuable companies and properties in the long run. About Cerberus 8 This perspective is reflected in our culture and approach to evaluating Cerberus Proprietary Operating Capabilities 10 transactions and managing investments. Our focus on Environmental, Cerberus CSR Program Overview 11 Social, and Governance (ESG) risks and opportunities spans the entire investment lifecycle, from pre-investment diligence through acquisition, from F-100 (First 100 days of transition) through portfolio 2 4 management, and, ultimately, exit. Conclusion This report is intended to demonstrate the history, depth, and breadth ESG Within Cerberus of ESG work at Cerberus, as well as our current ESG operating rhythm. Looking Forward 54 It also describes our most recent efforts to measure and improve our ESG Committee 16 performance with regard to ESG principles as applied to our portfolio ESG Policy 17 of companies, investments, and properties around the world. The Cerberus ESG Formula: The 3 C's 20 Through our ongoing commitment to ESG best practices, Cerberus ESG Process 21 has realized practical and tangible benefits for our investments and, 5 ultimately, our investors. 3 Appendix Glossary 58 ESG Process in Action Biographies of ESG Committee Members 59 Biographies of Other Cerberus ESG Resources Covid-19 Task Force 30 62 Operational Private Equity 32 Real Estate 36 Global Credit 44 Cerberus Frontier 50 1 Who We Are Cerberus is a global leader in alternative investing with industry- leading operating expertise. Founded in 1992 and headquartered in New York, with 22 offices worldwide, we have approximately $44 billion in assets under management across complimentary credit, operational private equity, real estate strategies, and frontier markets. Who We Are Message from the ESG Committee Chairman As we were finishing up our 2019 report and I sat down to pen my What's New the management company and all of our offices and affiliated entities, We have never allowed our program to be defined by how others view annual letter, we were hit with the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic but in the analysis of our investments. One part of governance is a ESG and the labels they use. Our program is specifically customized Each year we have made concerted efforts to enhance our ESG unfolding around the world. As soon as we understood the possible transformational issue facing all organizations and companies in to identify, remediate and address the environmental, social and program, including continually raising the bar for the annual ESG implications of the crisis, the Firm immediately put all-hands on deck today’s world - privacy and data protection. We have long focused on governance best practices related to our investments with the goal report. For example, this year we have further enhanced our reporting and systematically implemented a thoughtful approach to protect these issues but last year we formed a new committee to specifically of having an appropriate positive impact. That is one of the things by providing ESG data and results by investment desk. Not only our employees, the employees at our investments, our portfolio address the changing regulatory landscape – the Privacy Committee. that sets us apart. Our long-standing ESGI program is simply another does this approach highlight progress and performance by area of companies, and the interests of our investors. A special task force was This committee focuses on the implications of new privacy legislation example of what gives Cerberus a competitive advantage. We hope investment, but also has enabled us to more strategically pursue established to focus on each of these items along with daily reporting (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) and the practical implementation across our you find the report useful and welcome any and all feedback as we implementation of identified ESG opportunities in alignment with to discuss the information we were receiving as well as best practices investments as well as the Firm. strive to continuously create an edge for our investors and deliver each of our investment theses. In addition, this will allow us to to implement our strategy and plans. When I look back at our initial market leading, risk-adjusted returns. provide ESG data for specific funds which we will report out in 2021. response I am amazed at the outstanding job the entire team has Leading by Example: CSR From a program management perspective, we have added Ariunaa Finally, this year’s report uses multi-media to help bring our ESGI done – over eight hundred employees in 22 locations around the Batbold, a Managing Director and ESG leader in Cerberus Frontier, to The second component has to do with the positive impact we program “alive.” We hope that you will get a better sense of the depth world have been able to perform all of their roles and responsibilities the Cerberus ESG Committee. This further evidences our efforts to can have as a Firm. While in the past we focused our ESG efforts and commitment of our efforts in a more three dimensional manner. working remotely. The processes that we established over the years ensure that ESG is firmly integrated across all investment platforms primarily on our investments, this new initiative is introspective. Please use the QR codes that you will find throughout the report for stood up to one of the most challenging tests I have seen in my career. and pursued in a harmonized fashion. We have always valued diversity, inclusion and social responsibility, the full effect. Simply, open the Camera on your smartphone and hold And although the impacts from Covid-19 are clearly not over, we are and last year we formalized that commitment by creating two it over the QR code so that it is clearly visible within the screen. If already asking how we can improve on our findings and experiences. We are also very excited to announce one of our new ESG initiatives additional new committees: the Corporate Social Responsibility necessary, press the screen. We have included a few case studies in the beginning of Section 3 – the Cerberus ESG University Partnership Program. In 2020, we Committee and the Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Both are of this report to give you a glimpse of our Covid-19 response. We will be adding resources to our program by partnering with the designed to have a positive impact at the management company will continue to share these with our investment professionals and Environmental Program of two highly regarded business schools. level and the communities that we touch. You can read more about investors throughout 2020 and certainly in next year's report. Through this partnership we will work with our portfolio companies these initiatives, spearheaded by our ESG Committee member Sheila on optimizing ESG data collection, verification and reporting, and As we look back on 2019 and the beginning of 2020, it is important Peluso, in the report. We also focused on creating a positive impact advancing identified areas of value creation from our ESG evaluation. not to forget the hard work and accomplishments made in our ESG by looking across the Firm for areas where we could improve – such as replacing all of the plastic water bottles used in our offices program.