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“For Lombard Odier, being a sustainable company means being a responsible company”
Article published in Le Temps, 8 January 2024.
An ambitious strategy on social and environmental performance has been embedded at Lombard Odier for several years. It was exemplified by the B CorpTM certification the Firm received in 2019. This interview with Ebba Lepage, the Group’s Head of Corporate Sustainability, explores why Lombard Odier believes it is important to have a positive impact as a major actor in wealth and asset management, and looks at the specific actions it has taken.
Lombard Odier was the first global wealth and asset manager to obtain B CorpTM certification. What led it to take this step?
For Lombard Odier, being a sustainable business means being a responsible business that takes into consideration all the different kinds of impact we have on the world around us. That includes our staff, our clients, our local community and the environment, across the generations.
We were looking for a global, external and independent framework that could measure and monitor the impact of our actions, and we found it in B CorpTM certification. It involves a very thorough audit of our practices, with a requirement for tangible evidence. It means we have a solid basis for knowing our strong points and our areas for improvement.
What has this award changed for Lombard Odier?
For one thing, it has allowed us to fully align our strategy. Today, we have a global roadmap for sustainable development.
It also gives institutional and private clients clear and tangible proof of our commitment and our desire to remain at the forefront of best market practices. In most instances, this resonates directly with their values.
Finally, it has an undeniable effect in terms of attracting and retaining talent. It sends the message that, at Lombard Odier, staff have a healthy work environment where they can fully realise their potential and do something worthwhile.
Lombard Odier was not just recertified as a B CorpTM last June but improved its score by 12%. How did it achieve this?
It’s a really significant result for us, especially because the body that carries out the audit has tightened its requirements. We improved our score by taking specific actions under the various categories that are evaluated, particularly governance, where we embedded our ambition to have a positive impact in our articles of association and made our practices more transparent.
In terms of staff, we analysed our salary gap between men and women, using internal checks to ensure everyone is being treated fairly. And for the community aspect, we expanded our volunteer programmes, while also developing our range of sustainable investment products for clients.
Finally, we drew up an ambitious sustainable development roadmap to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
Read also: Lombard Odier recertifies as B Corp™ with improved score
What measures are you planning to take to get to net zero?
Our two main sources of emissions relate to business travel and energy consumption at our offices, so this is where our interventions must focus.
Regarding the first, the challenge is that we are an organisation that needs to meet our clients in person, making it difficult to dispense with business travel. However, we can travel in a better way thanks to what we refer to as our “Smart Travel” policy.
This aims to optimise staff travel by grouping the journeys together as much as possible. For example, instead of making two round trips to the same destination in a week, we suggest that the person make only one trip and stay there longer. In addition to halving emissions, such a measure also improves our operational efficiency.
We will also obviously take trains rather than planes when possible. Our practices around this have changed significantly since 2019, with the train having truly become a preferred means of transport – a move that also meets the expectations of our clients.
What about the energy aspect?
We are working on this issue across all of our more than 25 offices around the world. Whenever we consider moving sites, we try to opt for a sustainable building. We must also not forget the importance of small gestures, such as using LED bulbs, which allow energy savings of up to 85%.
Overall, our energy-related emissions have already fallen by 20% compared to 2019. Our 1Roof project, our new headquarters being built in Geneva, will allow us to go even further.
Can you tell us more about this new building?
With 1Roof, we are aiming for the highest standards in sustainability through three sustainable construction certifications that allow us to set a framework: the Swiss SNBS and Minergie-P labels, as well as the international BREEAM standard.
Since the start of the project, everything has been designed to promote climate resilience. Architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron examined the best way to position the building so that the wind will keep it cool during the summer. Likewise, the balconies will be projected further out to provide more shade and prevent the sun’s rays from reaching the windows directly.
Our strategy also includes a dedicated mobility plan. We have reduced the number of parking spaces for cars in favour of bicycle shelters, with more than 400 cycle spaces available. We will also obviously install electric charging stations. And it’s worth pointing out that 1Roof will be less than 200 metres from a railway station and accessible via a lake shuttle – without forgetting its great energy efficiency.
Read also: Lombard Odier unveils its Bellevue building
What exactly does that mean?
The building will have 750 m2 of solar panels on the roof, will use 100% renewable electricity and will collect rainwater for use in toilets and for watering green spaces. 1Roof will be also connected to the GéniLac system, a renewable solution that uses water from Lake Geneva to cool the building in summer and heat it in winter. We estimate that our new headquarters will reduce our energy consumption by 20-25%.
Discover more about our new headquarters: our new headquarters on lake geneva.
To finish, could you tell us something about the measures taken to promote the progression of women within the company, given the traditionally masculine nature of the financial sector?
As a member of the Gender Diversity Committee at Lombard Odier, this is an issue that is particularly close to me. As I mentioned, we have already carried out a study on gender pay gaps, the results of which have proven to be very satisfactory.
To recruit more women, we have asked the headhunters we work with to always include female profiles in the applications they send us. We have also conducted training sessions for managers on unconscious bias during recruitment, and provided training for women on the subjects of leadership and career progression. This is clearly a long-term issue.
A word about B CorpTM. This certification is granted to companies committed to an inclusive, equitable and regenerative economy. It assesses governance and its impact on employees, the environment, the community and the clients of the company being audited. A score of 80 is required to obtain certification. Lombard Odier went from a score of 98.2 to 111.2 between 2019 and 2023. Today, there are more than 6,400 certified B CorpTM companies in over 80 countries.
To find out more: Corporate sustainability | Lombard Odier
Important information
This document is issued by Bank Lombard Odier & Co Ltd or an entity of the Group (hereinafter “Lombard Odier”). It is not intended for distribution, publication, or use in any jurisdiction where such distribution, publication, or use would be unlawful, nor is it aimed at any person or entity to whom it would be unlawful to address such a document. This document was not prepared by the Financial Research Department of Lombard Odier.
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