Corporate Social Responsibility

Our commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainable business practices is intrinsic to our corporate culture and values. This commitment enables us to add long-term value to our employees, our clients and the community and environment we live in. We are deeply committed also to the role we play in supporting our clients in their efforts with respect to corporate social responsibility. We believe in an integrated approach. This conviction inspires us to ensure that corporate social responsibility is ingrained in all of our services and operational activities.

CSR policy

Kempen is committed to corporate social responsibility and sustainable business practices as these values are perfectly aligned with our own corporate values and the way we do business. We want to add long-term value to our employees, our clients and the community and environment we live in. Our organization encourages and embraces initiatives in this respect, often proposed by our own staff.

Our CSR policy is based on the permanent dialogue we conduct with all stakeholders. Kempen places great emphasis on ensuring that the organization achieves financial goals in harmony with all stakeholders. This policy is closely aligned with that of our parent company Van Lanschot.
Structure: four key areas

In order to ensure consistency in the implementation of the CSR approach, Kempen has divided the various aspects into four distinct key areas:

CSR in our core activities (asset management, securities, corporate finance, investments)
HR and sustainability policy (Human Resources policy)
Environmental management and procurement (our office: always the green choice)
Social environment (supporting community programmes, donations, volunteer projects

In the next few years, Kempen is committed to achieving progress in all four key areas.

CSR in our core activities

Kempen's core activities together form one of the pillars of the organization’s CSR policy. Our core activities consist of asset management, securities trading, corporate finance en investments. Our general aim is to apply the principles of corporate social responsibility in all of our activities. This is reflected in our efforts to deliver high-quality products that are easily understandable and transparently priced. In addition, we avoid dealing with companies that appear to be involved in controversial weapons (such as cluster bombs, et cetera), for instance, or that are accused of systematic human rights violations. We shoulder our responsibilities also when it comes to attracting funds, by researching their origin. This is standard procedure in our customer due diligence policy.

Asset Management

Regardless of whether specialist products or client portfolios are involved, financial performance is the highest priority for Kempen Capital Management. At the same time, there is a growing public demand for accountability for the investment content which leads to performance. The method used to achieve results needs to meet criteria with respect to environmental policy, social policy and sound governance. The abbreviation ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) is often used to describe these criteria.

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Securities

The history of Kempen dates as far back as the establishment of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in 1903. However, our services are far from limited by national boundaries, as we serve clients around the globe, ranging from asset managers, pension funds and insurance companies to hedge funds, including virtually all of the largest institutional investors across the map. In our niche markets, Kempen ranks among the top in international securities dealing. This position enables us to take an active approach to implementing the principles of corporate social responsibility.

Corporate Finance

Kempen is one of the largest and most trend-setting organizations in the Netherlands in the field of mergers and acquisitions, capital market transactions and debt advisory services. Corporate social responsibility is at the core of these activities. Furthermore, providing support to companies specializing in cleantech is one of the core activities of this business unit.

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Environmental management and procurement

Our office: Always the green choice

In everything we do in our office, we always make the green choice. This applies to our selection of new printers as well as to our choice of power supplier, and even to our choice of workplace and the way we furnish and decorate it.

Sustainable building

Kempen is based in the E Tower of the WTC at the South Axis (financial district) in Amsterdam. In September of 2011, this was the first office building in the Netherlands to receive the BREEAM-NL certificate for Existing Buildings and Use. Even as early as in 2001, during the design phase of this office building, which is the property of ING Real Estate, every option was explored to optimize the green, sustainable performance of the building.

The building and its management have now been assessed based on a set of objective criteria, and rated as sustainable. All aspects of the building were assessed, ranging from climate control to the communication system for service technicians and the users of the building. Kempen actively contributed to the certification process. The certificate was presented by the Dutch Green Building Council.

Energy efficiency

Our office building is A energy efficiency rated, indicating that it performs very well in terms of energy efficiency. The energy we use is generated by green power. Our procurement policy invariably favours the green choice; our preference goes out to sustainable suppliers. Kempen staff work in a paperless office environment as far as possible. If we do need to print out documents, we use recycled paper and multifunctional printers requiring no toner whatsoever. Our waste products are separated in the workplace. For this purpose, Kempen has set up an alliance with EcoSmart, a company specializing in sustainable, highly efficient waste management systems.

Accessibility

Until 2002, Kempen was based in an office building at Herengracht, in the centre of Amsterdam – a lovely location that was, however, difficult to access by car for our clients. Our choice in favour of this new building at the South Axis was therefore inspired by its location – immediately off the ring road and close to the WTC South Station. Kempen encourages its employees to travel to work by public transport whenever possible, by providing them with an annual public transport pass. Those who travel to work by bike can park their bikes in a supervised shelter. And we try to limit the number of lease cars to a minimum.

Social environment

To name an example, a group of our employees have launched a social enterprise to offer staff members the opportunity to support charitable causes and reach out to the community in a concerted effort. This social enterprise provides a platform for staff members to share ideas and sign up for community projects and charities. Kempen contributes towards this social enterprise in an alliance with other organizations, including Stichting Zingeving Zuidas – Humanizing the Financial District.

One of the projects Kempen helped realize was a project initiated by the Giving Back Foundation (www.givingback.nl), which involved an investment game to teach high school students in Amsterdam the basics of the world of finance and investment. Another example involved the Kempen football team competing in a street football competition for young professionals in the employment of companies based in and around the South Axis and high school students from the Amsterdam Slotervaart district. And a third example concerned staff members organizing a traditional Dutch Sinterklaas celebration in a domestic violence shelter.

HR and sustainability policy

Guiding principle

Kempen's ambition is to be a world-class player in our disciplines and to maintain lasting business relationships with our clients. We rely on the commitment and dedication of our staff to realize these ambitions.

The Human Resources sustainability policy is aimed at providing a safe and encouraging work environment that offers equal opportunities and ensures that our employees feel valued, respected and empowered to perform to the best of their abilities. This stimulating environment enables them to contribute greatly to the success of our organization.

Key objectives

The HR sustainability policy contains a large number of key focal points. We have established the following key objectives:

Training and development
We offer targeted training programmes to support our staff in offering high-quality services. Setting and helping people to achieve sound personal development objectives contributes to this goal. Our individual personal development plans are an important tool in this respect.

Leadership and corporate culture
Kempen’s values are at the heart of our collaborative structure – both within the organization and with external parties. Executives are expected to lead by example. Using our core values as a touchstone helps to create a motivating, safe work environment and therefore contributes to Kempen’s success.

Environmental awareness
Even HR activities can impact our environment – in terms of paper use or transport, for instance. We continually look for ways to reduce our ecological footprint.
To achieve the above key objectives, tools are implemented by the HR department, the management team and the staff to monitor the sustainable qualities of the HR policy.