Our desire to create impact is a driving force in how we hire, how we work with our clients to achieve their goals, and how we view the investment landscape. It also inspires us to serve the communities in which we live, work, and engage.
Investing
To create positive change, we work with corporations in our investment portfolios to improve their societal and environmental impact, and engage in thought leadership. Many of our portfolios are tilted away from companies with egregious corporate behavior that negatively impact society. To enact further impact on the behalf of our clients, our Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing portfolios are built to align more closely with client values.
Community
Giving back to the community has been in our DNA since our founding over 50 years ago. We launched the Bailard Foundation to formally support initiatives that help improve the communities in which we live, work, and engage. The Bailard Foundation targets three grant initiatives—affordable housing, homelessness & poverty, and financial literacy—in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. And, we’re honored to help to make a difference. Bailard has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Corporate Philanthropists in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times in both 2021 and 2022.*
Employees
Bailard has long fostered a diverse and credentialed culture. For decades, the firm has practiced championing our colleagues on merit regardless of identity, valuing diversity of thought, welcoming individuals from across the globe, and supporting women in the workplace. Of our 73 employees, 41% of staff are women, and women represent 49% of VPs and above. Importantly, we recognize that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is a continuous effort that is neither complete nor finished. We strive for improvement, and have been keen to build upon our strong foundation by partnering with BIPOC hiring organizations and college job fairs, as well as offering our employees DE&I learning opportunities, including unconscious bias training.
Engagement
By engaging with companies directly, and by supporting the corporate engagement work of our partner stakeholders, we seek to improve corporate behavior over the long term and create outcomes beneficial to both shareholders and society.
Stakeholder Relationships
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Engaging through Thought Leadership
We view thought leadership as a means to push innovative, thought-provoking, and sometimes even provocative ideas for the industry, world, and individuals in an endeavor to create change. We invite you to sample some of our work to engage through thought leadership.
ISSB’s Inaugural Global Sustainability Disclosure Standards Issue Brief
On June 26, 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) released its much anticipated inaugural sustainability standards. The standards were launched by the IFRS Foundation, the non-profit, public-interest arm of the ISSB. The standards were launched at COP26 with the purpose of establishing a global baseline of sustainability-related disclosure standards.
As the governing body of the International Accounting Standards Board, the IFRS Foundation should be well-positioned to oversee global standards. The International Accounting Standards Board determines the accounting rules for financial statements of public companies used by most developed countries. The release of these standards followed a comprehensive consultation period that allowed global stakeholders to weigh in on the proposed standards. The standards integrate the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) as well as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s industry-based disclosure requirements.
Corporate Engagement Update Q3 2023
Bailard’s approach to corporate engagement focuses on both the shareholder process and supporting other stakeholders working to improve disclosures on important environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Here is our Q1 2023 Update.
All investments have the risk of loss. There is no guarantee any Bailard account or strategy will achieve its investment objectives. The application of various environmental, social and governance screens as part of a socially responsible investment strategy may result in the exclusion of securities that might otherwise merit investment, potentially resulting in higher or lower returns than a similar investment strategy without such screens.
* These awards and recognitions do not evaluate the quality of services provided to clients and are not indicative of Bailard’s future performance. Please see press release disclosures for Top 100 Corporate Philanthropists in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times in both 2021 and 2022.
Statistics as of June 30, 2023. The Bailard Foundation has a board of directors that is led by chairwoman Terri Bailard, widow of firm co-founder Tom Bailard, and features both friends of Bailard, Inc. and employees.