Creating Sustainable Compounding Returns

JAB is committed to delivering superior long-term shareholder returns, which are fundamentally dependent on a healthy planet and society.

ESG priority topics

Within our ESG Strategy, we have prioritized key ESG topics based on an in-depth materiality analysis conducted through conversations with key stakeholders including our team, investor community, consumers, regulators and our portfolio companies.

The four priority topics identified through the analysis are:

1. Climate Change & Energy
2. Equality of Opportunity, Diversity & Inclusion
3. Business Ethics
4. ESG Management & Accountability

We approach these topics through tailored programs both within our own organization and with our portfolio companies. While our portfolio companies operate independently, we actively engage with each to embed JAB’s ESG priorities into their strategy and operations, as well as pursue their own tailored ESG agendas before the four key topics identified above are considered. ESG is overseen at the Board level of all our investments, with each business reporting to the Board at least once per year on ESG priority topics, including climate.

In addition, we enable our portfolio companies to share best practices through our ESG Collaboration Forum, which takes place every quarter. We started this initiative in 2019 because of our conviction that ESG is universally important, and that collaboration can only build positive impact and momentum across the portfolio companies. The Collaboration Forum, which includes sustainability experts and C-suite members from across the portfolio, provides our portfolio companies with the opportunity to jointly discuss progress and challenges experienced in the execution of their ESG agendas. It also enables leadership teams from both private and public companies to work together. This dynamic is unique to JAB thanks to our long-term ownership model and continued engagement with our companies once they become public.

Our due diligence process also includes ESG considerations, and we encourage new portfolio companies to embed ESG into their strategy early on, if it is not already present.

We evaluate the performance of these ESG topics at JAB and across the portfolio based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which as of 2021 are periodically measured, monitored and reported on. These KPIs have been defined for each of the four priority ESG topics, both at the Holding level and the Investment Platform level.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

JAB is committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are the internationally recognized framework adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We believe that all businesses have a critical role to play in building a healthier world, and the UN SDGs provide a strong framework from which to ensure that JAB and our Investment Platforms are effectively bringing long-term benefits to consumers and communities around the world.

JAB Governance

JAB Holding Company has four statutory Managers, including the CEO, and has implemented a governance framework for strategy, finance, risk and compliance, remuneration and ESG. This framework is overseen by the JAB Board. The Chairman and Vice Chairman are each members of the JAB Board and the Investment Committee.

The organization is led by the CEO, who is also a member of the Investment Committee, together with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the JAB Board. The members of the Investment Committee are referred to as Managing Partners. The Investment Committee obtains independent advice from two globally recognized Senior Advisors with extensive expertise on governance and strategy matters.

The JAB Board exercises typical shareholder rights (e.g. approval of distributions and valuations, and admission of shareholders) and is responsible for defining and monitoring JAB Holding Company’s governance model, including the mandate of the Investment Committee and key elements of management’s remuneration framework. The JAB Board meets periodically in Luxembourg together with the Managing Partners of the firm.

The Investment Committee is responsible for JAB Holding Company’s investment and exit strategy, including ESG. Investment and divestment decisions require the unanimous approval of the Managing Partners. The Investment Committee is also responsible for the remuneration of the broader management team, including eight (Senior) Partners, our Chief Financial Officer, and our Head of Responsible and Sustainable Investing.

On a number of specified domains there is an individual member of our leadership team responsible for the execution of our strategy. For example, Yoana Nenova, Head of Responsible and Sustainable Investing, has the overall responsibility of the ESG initiatives across the JAB ecosystem. For each of our portfolio companies, ESG issues are also monitored by the respective Board of Directors, with each business reporting to the Board at least once per year on ESG priority matters.

Our portfolio companies are managed by their respective CEOs and leadership teams which have also invested their personal wealth into their businesses, resulting in strong alignment of interests with those of JAB. Each of our portfolio companies, private and public, has a Board of Directors, an Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee, with Independent Directors and JAB representatives.

Our Senior Advisors

JAB has partnered with two globally recognized senior advisors, Antonio Weiss and Bertrand Badré, who provide us with advice on various governance and strategy matters, which are within their respective areas of expertise including business development, mergers and acquisitions, and ESG matters. At JAB, we highly value independent advice as it provides us with a fresh perspective on where we stand, our intentions and our journey.

Antonio Weiss

Senior Advisor

Mr Weiss has advised JAB since its formation as a global investment firm in 2012. His work spans business strategy and public policy. He is a research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. From 2014 to 2017, he served as Counselor to the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, where he oversaw the domestic finance department. Prior to this, he held various leadership roles at Lazard over twenty years in the US and Europe, including as Global Head of Investment Banking from 2009 to 2014.

Bertrand Badré

Senior Advisor

Mr Badré is the founder and CEO of Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital, an investment Company that manages investments for social and environmental impact to foster inclusive and sustainable growth and reduce risk. Mr Badré also serves as a guarantor to the ‘One Planet Lab’ initiative. Previously, he served as Managing Director and CFO of the World Bank Group, Group CFO of both Société Générale and Crédit Agricole, Partner at Lazard and was an advisor to previous French President Jacques Chirac’s diplomatic team.

JAB participates in G7 Business for Inclusive Growth coalition

As part of our ongoing commitment to ESG and sustainability we are excited to participate in the G7 Business for Inclusive Growth (‘B4IG’) coalition powered by the OECD and sponsored by French President Emmanuel Macron. The B4IG business coalition is a group of 40 leading international businesses that have committed to stepping up business action to advance human rights throughout their value chains, build inclusive workplaces and strengthen inclusion in their internal and external business ecosystems. In doing so, they will advance G7 government-led efforts to strengthen equality of opportunity, tackle regional disadvantages and fight gender discrimination.

This focus is also presented within our investment strategy. JAB recognises that this is a long-term challenge and we commit to putting our passion and energy into ensuring that JAB and our investments help to bring this to life over time, for the benefit of all. Underpinning our pledge is the view that such engagement is not just good corporate responsibility but rather the future of successful business. Business benefits from more inclusive growth models mthrough a more educated and engaged workforce; a larger middle-class of consumers with greater purchasing power; more stable operating environments; and a high level of trust from employees, consumers, customers and other stakeholders. JAB, Pret a Manger, Panera Bread and Keurig Dr Pepper are formal signatories to the Business Pledge.

Sustainability Reporting by Our Investments

Via the following links you can find the formal reporting available for the majority of investments in our investment portfolio and example initiatives that our investments who do not yet have a formal ESG report are particularly proud of.

Portfolio Company

Link

Visit Site View ESG Report

Visit Site View ESG report

Visit Site * View ESG Report

*Please note Panera website may not be available in certain countries in the world due to data security / GDPR issues

Visit Site Examples of Initiatives

Visit Site View ESG Report

Visit Site Examples of Initiatives

Risk Management

Risk management is an integral part of the governance structure. Our risk management approach is established to identify and analyse risks faced by JAB, to monitor risks and to implement remediation initiatives to ensure adherence to set limits. The risk management approach and our compliance policies are reviewed regularly to reflect changes in market conditions and the activities of JAB.

Our policies and programs

Our risk management contemplates a broad range of stakeholders, including fixed income investors, equity investors, and the communities in which we operate.

Risk management is an integral part of our business and is among others governed by a comprehensive set of policies and programs.

On financial risk management, our objective is to maintain a level of cash flow certainty that is acceptable to our stakeholders, including equity and fixed income investors, given a certain expected return.

In particular, we monitor closely topics related to:

Capital structure, financing and liquidity
Transactional risks
Foreign currency and balance sheet risk
Counterparty risk (cash, marketable securities and derivatives)
Environmental, Social, Governance and Reputation risks

Our risk management and other important company policies are reviewed and updated periodically, with ESG more strongly integrated where applicable.

The following policies are in place:

Towards our investments we developed a Responsible Investment & Stewardship policy and a Human rights policy to provide further guidance on ESG in our investment practices.

Responsible Investment & Stewardship policy describes our approach to how we formally incorporate ESG matters in our entire investment process.

Sustainability Linked Bond Framework covers our ESG commitments in relation to Sustainability-Linked Financing on which we received a Second Party Opinion from Sustainalytics.