Giving Back 2017 Our Values in Action Table of Contents Mission and Values 2 CEO Message 3 Giving Back Day 2017 4 The American Securities Foundation 12 Lending a Hand 16 Giving Back Day Through the Years 32 The Breadth of Our Activities 40 GIVING BACK 1 Our Mission Generate superior returns by making investments in great businesses and helping existing management better them. Our Va lues We maintain the highest personal and corporate ethics through honesty and fair dealing. We are dedicated to a true partnership with our management teams, our colleagues, our investors, and all others who help us achieve our mission. We aim to be respectful in all of our interactions. Our focus is always on the long-term best interest of the companies and investors we serve. Our success is grounded in hard work and rigorous analysis. We seek to continuously build human capital. We enjoy our work and the relationships that come from it. We hope to make the world a better place by giving back to the communities in which we live and work. 2 AMERICAN SECURITIES CEO Message Our Values are a credo by which we express the type of Firm and people we hope to be. Each individual value is important and expressed in different ways. This report profiles how our colleagues and the companies with which we partner demonstrate our Giving Back value: “We hope to make the world a better place by giving back to the communities in which we live and work.” The examples contained herein of individual unprecedented number of refugees around and Firm contributions highlight only a small the world. According to the UN Refugee portion of the volunteer commitments and Agency, there are currently 65.6 million philanthropic activities that the greater people who have been forcibly displaced American Securities family undertakes in from their homes. American Securities’ an effort to make the world a better place. year-end 2016 holiday donation supported The companies in which American a grassroots organization providing Securities’ funds have had the privilege educational and medical services to Syrian to invest also live this value through their refugees in Lebanon. Included in this book numerous undertakings. is a profile of the project that we funded in partnership with Refugee Protection In the past, we have included profiles International (RPI) and Multi Aid Programs of our colleagues’ and our partner (MAPs) to support the education of Syrian companies’ efforts to give back to their refugees in Lebanon. American Securities is local communities. 2017 was marked by a pleased with the outcome of the project and significant number of natural disasters in continues to support RPI and MAPs in 2018 the United States, where our companies as they implement this and similar programs are mostly based, including Hurricanes to help more refugees in Lebanon. Harvey, Irma, and Maria and wildfires in California. The U.S. Federal Emergency I hope that you share our pride in reading this Management Agency (FEMA) reported that book and that each of us will further dedicate requests for federal disaster aid jumped personal time and treasure in service to tenfold in 2017 as compared to 2016 to others in 2018. 4.7 million. As a result, this year, we have chosen to showcase efforts to “lend a hand” Sincerely, in communities affected by these natural disasters and charitable work inspired by these often dire situations. On a more global scale, for the past Michael G. Fisch two years, we have written about the Managing Director & CEO GIVING BACK 3 4 AMERICAN SECURITIES Giving Back Day 2017 For our Giving Back Day in New York, we divided into four smaller groups to participate in two different volunteer activities. In October and November, three groups of colleagues (39 in total), volunteered at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger to assist with organizing their food pantry and social hall. In November, 49 colleagues returned to Grace Institute to work with an incoming class of students, focusing on workforce development. In China, we returned to the Shanghai QingCongquan Training Center for Children with Special Needs for the third consecutive year to participate in their annual outing. GIVING BACK 5 6 AMERICAN SECURITIES Shanghai QingCongquan Training Center for Children with Special Needs In April 2017, our colleagues in China activities and a half-day tour of the continued our involvement with the Shanghai Museum of Glass. The Shanghai QingCongquan Training American Securities team also made Center, which supports the needs of a monetary contribution to the center autistic children and their families. to support its programs. Volunteering for the third consecutive year at the center, 13 American Additionally, in June 2017, American Securities colleagues spent the day Securities’ Shanghai office, in with 52 children and their parents. partnership with a U.S. toy company, The group participated in a trip to donated 20 cartons of toys to the a local park for interactive outdoor QingCongquan Training Center. Shanghai QingCongquan Training Center for Children with Special Needs was founded in 2004. It is a nonprofit, private organization that provides professional rehabilitation training and coaching to children with autism and their families. Their programs offer professional early-stage rehabilitation training and long-term psychological support to families. They also organize a variety of social welfare and advocacy activities to help autistic children better integrate into society. GIVING BACK 7 8 AMERICAN SECURITIES Grace Institute In November 2017, 49 American more intimate groups Securities volunteers returned to Grace where the Grace Institute to welcome another incoming participants asked class. We began the day with a get- American Securities to-know-you bingo game where we professionals about mingled, introduced ourselves, and their thoughts on tried to find people who matched the strategies for success traits on our bingo cards. We then within these areas. conducted rotating mentoring sessions We finished the day by sharing our in which a pair of Grace women met experiences with the broader group with five different American Securities and discussing what both sides had professionals. The Grace students learned. Additionally, for each class were able to seek advice for the of students, Grace Institute hosts a workplace, such as how to project suit drive called Dress With Grace. confidence and how to best approach The event provides Grace Institute common interview questions. Next, participants with professional, work- we broke into small group sessions appropriate attire for job interviews focused on the topics of time and for their eventual careers. management, conflict resolution, American Securities colleagues customer service, and negotiation. donated gently-used clothing and After watching instructional videos accessories to two Dress With Grace on the given topics, we broke into events in 2017. Founded in 1897, over 100,000 women have come through Grace Institute’s doors. Today, Grace Institute serves as a leader in workforce development for women. It serves 300 women annually by developing advanced computer and professional skills to prepare students for administrative and customer support positions in industries such as banking, not-for-profit, health care, and hospitality. GIVING BACK 9 10 AMERICAN SECURITIES West Side Campaign Against Hunger clothing and other household items. Additionally, American Securities volunteers performed various In Fall 2017, 39 American Securities janitorial duties around the center, volunteers visited the West Side including washing windows, cleaning Campaign Against Hunger (WSCAH) furniture and restrooms, as well as to perform various tasks in the breaking down delivery boxes and organization’s food pantry and social taking out garbage and recycling hall. After an orientation and tour, items from the kitchen. Finally, we we were divided into teams with presented WSCAH with a monetary various responsibilities. American donation to help support their Securities colleagues measured and mission. Following our visit, American packaged bulk goods into small Securities colleagues hosted a drive containers and individual portions, to collect new and gently-used received food deliveries, re-stocked clothing for children and adults, as areas of the pantry where customers well as personal care products, small select their food items using home appliances, and school supplies. reserves from the stockroom, and We also provided funds to purchase assisted customers. We also sorted over 830 turkeys for WSCAH’s and folded in-kind donations of Thanksgiving Turkey Drive. Through a supermarket-style food pantry, West Side Campaign Against Hunger alleviates hunger and creates a culture that promotes self-reliance and works for change. WSCAH changes our perception of hungry people by working in partnership with them, providing food with dignity, and empowering customers to find solutions. In 2017, WSCAH distributed nearly 1.5 million pounds of food to hungry families, including over 300,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables. GIVING BACK 11 12 AMERICAN SECURITIES The American Securities Foundation In 2017, the American Securities Foundation sought to donate to on-the-ground relief efforts for those affected by the Syrian civil war. Ongoing since 2011, the Syrian civil war has caused 5.4 million people to flee Syria according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. An additional 6.1 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes, but remain within the country’s borders. Based on our own research and outside recommendations, we chose to partner with Refugee Protection International (RPI) and Multi Aid Programs (MAPs) to support the education of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Based in Greater Boston, RPI partners with efficiency. RPI uses a local NGOs and duty bearers to strengthen mobile monitoring and protection and self-reliance among urban collaboration approach refugees and internally displaced persons in lieu of stationing near conflict zones through interventions expats overseas and including, but not limited to, innovative thereby keeps its housing solutions, civil and residency overhead to a minimum.