T. Rowe Price has released its first Sustainability Report, addressing the firm’s initiatives to promote economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
The firm’s inaugural Sustainability Report includes its first SASB disclosures and its aligning to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Report Highlights
Responding to COVID-19
97% of the firm’s global workforce switched to full-time telework in March 2020. In a global workforce survey conducted a month later, 88% of associates were satisfied with the way the firm responded to their needs and 82% felt the firm was taking a genuine interest in their well-being.
Economic Sustainability
$69.4 billion, representing 6% of the firm’s $1.2 trillion in assets under management, were invested in strategies that apply socially responsible investing screens as of December 31, 2019. Virtually all strategies that the firm manages incorporate ESG risk considerations into the fundamental investment analysis.
Social Sustainability
In 2019, 49% of the firm’s senior-level hires were diverse. T. Rowe Price received a perfect 100 score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index in 2019 and 2020.
Environmental Sustainability
The firm surpassed its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 13% between 2010 and 2025. In 2019, it had reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 14% over the past nine years, even as its associate population rose by 70.6%. The firm has reduced its landfill waste by 93% and increased recycling by 76% and energy recovery 724% since 2010.
Bill Stromberg, president and CEO of T. Rowe Price. “This year has been a time of significant change. While the change has come with significant disruption, we are at what we hope is an inflection point—with a global focus on ending the coronavirus pandemic and addressing the pervasive racial inequity and injustice Black and Latinx people continue to face today. The last several months have demonstrated the power of a shared commitment: Governments, corporate citizens, communities—when working together—can have tremendous impact. It’s this belief that guides our sustainability work. I am heartened by the progress we have made, but I know we have much to do.”