Our basis for sustainability

ESG: Environment - Social - Governance

The 3 pillars

Environment
Here the focus is on generating and using renewable energies, minimising the use of non-renewable resources and energy consumption and reducing pollutant emissions. 
This pillar is based most closely on the original idea of not over-exploiting nature. This means only using the natural foundations of life to the extent that they are able to regenerate themselves.

Social 
Includes aspects such as occupational safety and health protection, diversity or social commitment. 
A state or society should be organised in such a way that social tensions are limited and conflicts cannot escalate but can be resolved by peaceful and civil means.

Governance
This basically means sustainable corporate governance. This includes topics such as corporate values or corporate governance control and monitoring processes. A society should not live economically beyond its means, as this would inevitably lead to losses for future generations. In general, an economy is considered sustainable if it can be operated on a permanent basis.

In the LHI Group

For the LHI Group, sustainability is regarded as a concept that supports the company.

Companies are successful in the long term if they are managed with a long-term view. We take into account what the long-term consequences will be when making current decisions.

The LHI business areas follow exactly this concept.

Structured Finance is geared to the long term. On average, the commitments last 20 years and the customer relationships are just as long-term.

In the area of investments, a decisive factor for success is the question of how sustainable a product is.

 

Our standards

LHI has a sustainability advisory board consisting of employees from different departments of the LHI and two external advisors. The Advisory Board meets at least twice a year.

LHI has established a reporting system, which takes all requirements of the EU disclosure and taxonomy regulation into account. Besides the Sustainability Advisory Board within the scope of an operative sustainability JF the requirements are checked regularly, and existing reporting standards are, if applicable, adjusted accordingly.

LHI KVG has been a member of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) since 10 May 2023.

 "Together with its international network of subscribers the PRI-Initiative dedicates itself to the practical implementation of the six principles for responsible investing. The aim is a better understanding of the implications of investment activities on environmental, social and company management topics as well as the support of the subscribers with the integration of these questions into their investment decisions." 

The six principles were developed by investors and are promoted by the UN. In the meantime, more than 1,400 members from 50 countries have joined the initiative that together have investment capital of more than USD 59 trillion.

LHI is additionally a member of the industry initiative ESG-Circle of Real Estate. Through the cooperation of the industry since the foundation of the initiative it was possible to create substantial acceptance on the market for the ECORE valuation model. The aim is a uniform Real Estate-ESG-Scoring-Model as a standard for the European and global real estate market. LHI is active in various working groups and has valuated 12 objects according to the ECORE Standard. Further ones will follow.

In addition, our own-developed LHI Scoring Model, which makes it possible to assess the environment, social and und governance (ESG) profile of real estate investments in various real estate use classes, is used. This is how we differentiate ourselves from the competition. LHI is also a supporter of the IES International Ethic Standards and has joined the ICG Institute for Corporate Governance in the Real Estate Industry.

Together with 26 founding members from the aircraft finance industry, LHI KVG is a member of the sustainability initiative "Impact on sustainable aviation e.V.".

In addition, LHI is a supporter of the IES International Ethic Standards and has joined the  ICG Institut für Corporate Governance in der Immobilienwirtschaft.

The LHI Group has been climate neutral since 2020. The aim is to continue to continuously reduce the directly and indirectly caused CO2 emissions in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG).

Since the first certification in 2020, the company's greenhouse gas emissions have already been reduced by more than 10% compared to the renewed certification for the fiscal year 2022. A CO2 footprint of approx. 575 tonnes remains. The measurement pursuant to GHG was carried out by the Ebersberg-Munich Energy Agency as part of the initiative "Die Klimaneutralen" (The Climate Neutrals) and certified by Fokus Zukunft GmbH, Starnberg.
On this basis, the emissions remaining in 2023, as expected, have been more than offset by the purchase of certificates from the projects GS Solarenergie Indien and VCS Bioenergie Niederlande, which have been audited by TÜV Süd and TÜV Rheinland respectively.

In addition, the LHI Group has invested in its own renewable energy projects. By investing in these projects, more than 24,650 tonnes of CO2 were saved in 2022 alone. However, according to the GHG Protocol, these savings cannot be offset against the own CO2 footprint.

The LHI Group has also joined the initiative of the Alliance for Development and Climate Foundation and the alliance "Die Klimaneutralen" (The Climate Neutrals) of the Ebersberg-München Energy Agency.

Since April 2021, LHI has also been home to three bee colonies at the Pullach campus.

Sustainable Finance

The EU “Sustainable Finance” Action Plan sets out three main objectives:: 

  • Reorientation of capital flows towards a more sustainable economy.
  • Better mapping of financial risks arising from climate change, climate regulation, waste of resources, environmental degradation and social problems in investment and financing decisions.
  • Higher transparency and long-term orientation of financial and real economic activities and decisions 

One of the measures under the Sustainable Finance Package is the proposal to introduce a standardised classification system, or what is known as taxonomy. Since 2018, LHI has been looking at the importance of an upcoming EU taxonomy for asset management and institutional investors in detail as part of its corporate values and takes this into account in its investment decisions.