JTC is setting ambitious goals (and reaching them) for Environmental, Social, and Governance practices.
At JTC, we know there is a difference between “talking the talk” by claiming to support socially-conscious investments and actually “walking the walk.” Both in North America and throughout the world, JTC has become synonymous with ESG because of the company’s solutions for helping fund and private clients achieve ambitious ESG goals. At JTC, we use technology to help impact investments reach their full potential, and have pioneered effective practices particularly in the area of social impact.
But we know we can’t limit our efforts to only helping others walk the walk on ESG: we also need to make a difference in our own communities and do our part to understand the effect we have on the environment and society, both here in North America and everywhere JTC operates. With that in mind, here are just a few of the steps JTC is taking to improve how we interact with employees, the community, and the environment.
E – Environmental Solutions
In 2022, JTC will disclose our ESG credentials on a voluntary basis in line with the Professional and Commercial Services Standard issued by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) for the second straight year. The goal is to assist investors and other stakeholders in understanding the governance and management of the company’s environmental and social impacts.
In addition, for the first time, JTC will also report under the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, formed by the Financial Stability Board, which highlights climate-related risks and opportunities.
One of JTC’s biggest accomplishments of the past year was becoming a Carbon Neutral+ organization, working with independent carbon accreditation firm Carbon Footprint to fund a series of carbon offsetting projects in the UK, India, Kenya, and Brazil. You can read more about this and other initiatives in the company’s annual report, which has an entire section dedicated to ESG.
S – Social Impact
For more than 20 years, JTC has operated with a “shared ownership” model, in which every permanent employee is a direct owner of the business, and over 20% of JTC stock is owned by staff.
This model ensures JTC’s interests and those of its employees are fully aligned with the interests of the company’s clients. The people who work for JTC aren’t just passing the hours or trying to earn a sales commission – their success is tied to the company’s success, which means everyone you deal with at JTC has a personal interest in helping you succeed.
Beyond creating value for the company and its clients, shared ownership has also become a part of the culture at JTC, encouraging a meritocratic approach where a rising tide lifts all boats. Our employees work in collaboration, not in competition, making JTC an attractive place to work. JTC also measures and pays attention to its hiring practices and demographics, and places a high importance on communicating with employees about the business and our values.
Because of this established shared ownership principle, which was the subject of a Harvard MBA case study, we’ve been walking the walk long before many companies even had a concept of ESG principles. Since 1998, JTC has generated more than $400 million of value for its employee-owners, and we plan to continue to build on this success in the future by encouraging wellbeing and community engagement in our workplaces and the areas they serve.
G – Corporate Governance
One of the biggest developments of 2022 for JTC has been the appointment of the company’s first Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO). Wendy Holley, who also acts as Chief Operating Officer (COO), will work to ensure the company’s ESG objectives are fully integrated with the Group’s strategic commercial decision making, incorporating a full range of ESG criteria.
“As a leading provider of professional services, we recognize not only the obligation we have to put ESG at the core of our strategic decision making, but also the opportunities doing so has as part of a long-term commercially successful, responsible supply chain,” she said. “In 2022 we will look to build on our ESG strategy to continue to enhance our reporting and seek opportunities to understand the impact of Net Zero targets on our entire value chain.”
This move comes along with the release of JTC’s vCSO platform, which provides fund managers, corporations, and family offices with a cost-effective way to meet their complex ESG regulatory and reporting obligations through a platform that enables them to access the benefits of an in-house Chief Sustainability Officer on a flexible, outsourced basis. In the same way that we’re helping our clients achieve their ESG goals, JTC is working to do the same within our own company.
“As our business continues to grow, it is important that our people are empowered to support clients in ways that are sustainable for the long-term,” said Nigel Le Quesne, JTC CEO. “Equally, by encouraging employees to engage with and contribute to their local communities, we aim to have a broader positive impact in all the places where we live and work.”
Reid Thomas echoed this sentiment at a recent webinar when discussing JTC’s goal of helping its clients’ impact investments do the good they’re intended to do through the use of technology:
“That’s really our mission,” he said. “What we try to do in those areas is facilitate the administration, make it easier to raise capital, safer for investors, and more transparent and compliant for all stakeholders.” JTC strives to help its clients achieve their ESG goals, and we earn their trust by walking the walk with our own practices.
