I am excited to present our annual Stewardship Report for 2023, which highlights BBH’s efforts throughout the year to make a positive impact on, and create enduring value for, our clients, our communities, and all BBHers.

During 2023, our global community became even more divided, as devastating wars and escalating geopolitical tensions sent shockwaves across the globe, disrupting economies, straining resources, and resulting in real humanitarian crises. On the economic front, inflation resulting from the multi-national Covid stimulus, designed to support communities during the pandemic, continues to stubbornly erode the value of goods and services in many developed economies. As a result, central banks are trying to walk a fine line between promoting financial stability and avoiding recession. On a social level, throughout the world the effects of changing climate patterns increasingly threaten life and property in some of our most concentrated population centers. These challenges to global peace and community illustrate the profound interconnectedness of economic, environmental, and social forces on our world.

Amid all this, BBH’s commitment to stewarding our clients’ financial and personal well-being while running our business according to the highest standards of responsibility and ethics has never been stronger. As such, we are proud to detail the progress the firm has made in each of our ten Sustainability impact areas during 2023, and to reaffirm our ongoing commitment toward a more responsible and sustainable future.

Over the past year, we have witnessed an intensifying political debate and societal backlash regarding the Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) efforts which have been led by institutions and companies. There are strong and complex perspectives on both sides of this debate. However, we believe that from a BBH business perspective, our best efforts on behalf of our clients, employees, and communities will spring from remaining true to our mission, values, and past commitments.

Through our 200-year history, BBH has been a study in sustainability. Our private ownership has allowed us to plan for the long term, rather than follow fads, trends, or business strategies that are fashionable at the moment but not lasting. This has been the key to our long-term success and allowed us to be in a position to innovate to meet the challenges of a changing world. We are proud of the material progress we have made in many of our impact areas in the past year, and recognize that we must continue to evolve and embed sustainability principles throughout the company.

What progress have we made?

• We believe that leadership is partnership. To help scale and optimize our collective impact, we collaborate closely with philanthropic partners who share our passion for service and who support the wellbeing of the communities where we live and work. Over the course of the year, our community giving efforts have exceeded $3.6 million distributed among over 155 philanthropic partners. We are proud that BBH earned the inaugural Corporate Volunteer Engagement Award from Futures and Options, an organization dedicated to expanding opportunities for New York City youth. Additionally, we added many new philanthropic partners throughout the communities which BBH calls home. One such example that is doing outstanding work is Ballymun Youthreach in Dublin which is a non-profit that offers personal development, education, and job training to teenagers who left school and are seeking a second chance at education.
• We made important strides this year towards advancing our DEI efforts, starting with a significant increase in women and people of color hired in 2023. To create a more inclusive environment for employees, in the U.S. we launched Maven, a resource for fertility, adoption, and surrogacy for BBHers hoping to grow their families. We also implemented paid caregiver leave, boosted financial support for adoption and surrogacy, and expanded the number of global events focused on supporting mental health of BBHers and their families. Moreover, we launched a new U.S. LGBTQ+ employee benefit guide that makes it easier to navigate the broad spectrum of LGBTQ+ employee benefits, many of which have been introduced over the last several years.
• Since returning to in-office work in our 3-2 hybrid work environment, we have supported an increase in employee-led, in-person events through our BBH Affinity Network Communities (BANCs) – raising awareness, participation, and enhancing inclusion. We completed a 2-year cycle of our “Breaking Through Bias” training, where BBHers learned how to identify, understand, and react to bias as it occurs. This important training also equipped employees with strategies to “adapt, educate, and engage” to navigate instances of bias in the world around them. To further our impact, we also became a taskforce member of Coqual, a global non-profit dedicated to producing research that addresses bias in the workplace, especially barriers related to gender, race, ethnicity, disability, and LGBTQ+ identities.
• We strengthened our commitment to environmental responsibility in 2023 by substantially reducing firm-wide emissions by 54% compared to our 2019 baseline. Our continued investments in energy efficiency, waste reduction and renewable energy, paired with the impact of our hybrid work policies and greater attention to corporate travel, contributed to this reduction. Our Scope 1 emissions fell 75% and our Scope 2 market-based emissions dropped 45% when compared to our 2019 base year measurements. Interestingly, our Scope 1 and 2 market-based emissions were lower compared to 2022 despite greater use of our facilities as we transitioned from voluntary in office work to full hybrid.
• BBH’s Sustainability efforts are built on a foundation of transparency and accountability and are made stronger by the input and counsel of all our stakeholders. In the pages that follow, we invite you to take a comprehensive and holistic look at the progress we made in 2023 and learn how BBH is tapping into its unique market position, skills, and capabilities to create a more sustainable society in collaboration with our clients, our people, and our communities.

Thank you for your interest in Sustainable BBH. We welcome your feedback, comments, and questions about this report.

Sincerely,

William Tyree
Managing Partner