I am proud to present our sixth annual Stewardship Report for 2024, which details BBH’s sustainability efforts and spotlights our progress throughout the year.

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) as an organizing principle for corporate responsibility and investor impact has experienced a whirlwind the past couple years. Once a rising focus for many corporations and their stakeholders, ESG has now become one of the most polarizing issues in business today. Although ESG and related terms are now under intense scrutiny, the various components which underpin ESG such as climate change mitigation, carbon emissions reduction, employee wellbeing and inclusion, and supply chain resiliency will likely remain important to organizational sustainability over time.

2024 was marked by persistent geopolitical tensions, humanitarian crises, and the disastrous impacts of climate change. These devastating conditions challenged many nations and communities. They also influenced global financial markets, which simultaneously wrestled with lingering economic uncertainty related to the health of labor markets, elevated inflation, and high interest rates. This uncertainty complicated financial decision making for both businesses and households. These trends underscore how interwoven and interdependent social, economic, and environmental issues are as well as the difficulties decision-makers face in making the right judgments today to ensure a healthy and sustainable tomorrow.

At BBH, we believe that we act in the best interests of all our stakeholders when we stay true to our mission, values, and commitments. For over 200 years, BBH has been guided by independent and long-term thinking to deliver the best outcomes for our clients. Since our founding, sustainability — an unwavering dedication to seeking and preserving long term value and well-being — has been core to who we are. As we reflect on 2024 and look toward the future, we remain steadfast in our role as stewards for our clients, our employees, and our communities. We advanced in many of our nine impact areas throughout the year and remain focused on continuing to evolve and embed sustainability principles throughout the company

What progress have we made?

We continue to grow our suite of employee benefits to better support BBHers financially, physically, and personally. In 2024, BBH expanded benefits for US employees offered under Maven, a family planning resource for parents. Additional benefits included a delivery service for breastfeeding mothers to ship milk home to their baby when traveling for work, support for BBHers going through menopause, and more mental health resources. We also spent 2024 planning the launch of Identity and Fraud Protection, Legal, and Pet Insurance plans to provide BBHers and their loved ones’ security and peace of mind.

We enhanced our inclusion programming to better support our diverse global workforce and strengthen cross-cultural relationships. We launched a new Executive Intercultural Development program for our senior leaders. This three-part program explored the drivers of ‘success and challenge’ when navigating across cultures and shared strategies on how to move across the continuum from denial of differences to adaptation. We also hosted panels and discussions on ways to overcome “covering”, the tendency to hide or downplay aspects of identity that are perceived to be socially disfavored. In a work environment, covering can negatively impact an employee’s well-being, purpose, and authenticity, ultimately harming the company through increased turnover and decreased productivity.

We remained steadfast in our commitment to operate in an environmentally responsible way. Our 2024 emissions were 40% lower than when we first started tracking in 2019, driven by energy efficiency enhancements, waste and business travel reductions, greater use of renewable energy, and our transition to hybrid work. However, our Scope 3 emissions increased over 50% from 2023 to 2024, leading to an overall increase in our emissions year over year. This is largely the product of moreaccurate employee commuting data, allowing us to provide a more transparent view into our operational footprint.

In 2024, we continued to drive positive change in the communities where we live and work. I am proud to report that collectively we contributed over $4 million in community giving and over 3,200 volunteer hours to 175 charitable partners. Among these was the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), who named BBH their “Corporate Volunteer of the Year”, recognizing our employees’ efforts to help reduce hunger throughout Eastern Massachusetts.

We completed a sustainability assessment through EcoVadis, a third-party provider of corporate sustainability ratings. Following a detailed evaluation of our performance in sustainability areas such as environment, labor & human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement, we received a Bronze Medal, placing us in the top 35% of all companies. Our learnings from this experience will help us focus on areas of improvement as we continue to evolve our program.

Our approach to sustainability is rooted in transparency and accountability, and strengthened by the insights of our stakeholders. We recognize the importance of continuous improvement and welcome your feedback, comments, and questions about our Sustainable BBH program. We thank our employees, partners, and communities for contributing to our sustainability efforts and look forward to our future progress.

Sincerely,

William Tyree

Managing Partner