Wells Fargo Invested $67 Billion in 2016 to Advance CSR Goals
April 21 2017 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Report highlights progress toward 2020
Corporate Social Responsibility goals and investments in clean
technology, sustainable housing, diverse small businesses, and
other community needs
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) announced today that the
company invested nearly $67 billion in lending capital and grants
during 2016 toward achieving its 2020 Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) goals that were set last year to help create
solutions to address global challenges and strengthen communities.
Wells Fargo’s 2016 CSR Interim Report, released today, details
the company’s performance and progress in addressing three areas of
strategic focus: advancing diversity and social inclusion, creating
economic opportunities in underserved communities, and accelerating
the transition to a lower-carbon economy and a healthier
planet.
Among other accomplishments, last year the company invested
$17.6 billion in financing for clean technology and other
environmentally sustainable businesses; $38 million in grants and
lending capital to help diverse small business grow; $49 billion in
new mortgages for minority and low- and moderate-income households;
$50 million in the Neighborhood LIFT® program; and $281.3 million
in grants to 14,500 nonprofits.
“Wells Fargo has made strong progress toward achieving our 2020
CSR goals through significant investments in philanthropic giving,
advances in products and services, and strengthening our operations
and culture,” said Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan. “Our top priority is
rebuilding trust, and our CSR efforts are essential to helping us
build a better bank for the future. Though more work lies ahead, we
are fully committed to making every community in which we do
business better through an integrated, company-wide CSR strategy to
address global social, economic, and environmental challenges.”
Wells Fargo’s approach to CSR reflects the company’s
longstanding commitment to strengthening and delivering practical
solutions for the customers and communities it serves. The 2020 CSR
goals announced last year include objectives for supplier
diversity, philanthropy, environmental financing, community
development investments, and volunteer hours. Last month, Sloan
reinforced the company’s commitment to corporate citizenship as one
of six long-term goals for the company.
Following are highlights from Wells Fargo’s 2016 interim CSR
report:
Philanthropy
- Wells Fargo donated $281.3 million to
14,500 nonprofits and community organizations in 2016, including
$139.9 million to organizations aligned with our social, economic,
and environmental strategic philanthropy priorities. The company is
on track to donate more than $665 million in corporate
philanthropic giving to nonprofits in these three areas by
2020.
- In 2016, Wells Fargo invested $50
million in LIFT programs, for a total of $327 million in down
payment assistance and support since 2012. Through LIFT, the
company has created 12,900 new homeowners in 48 low- and
moderate-income communities and expects to exceed its goal of
creating 15,000 new homeowners through LIFT programs by 2020.
- Wells Fargo has donated more than $75
million to support returning military veterans and their families
through stable housing, career transition, and financial education
programs (2012-2016). Over that period, the company also donated
more than 300 homes to military veterans in all 50 states.
Products and services
- Wells Fargo provided $35 billion in
mortgages to minority households and $14 billion in mortgages to
low- and moderate-income households in 2016. The company is on
track to meet its goal of addressing lagging homeownership rates by
originating a combined $220 billion in new mortgages for these
communities between 2016 and 2020.
- The Wells Fargo Works for Small
Business®: Diverse Community Capital program distributed $38
million in grants and lending capital to 30 Community Development
Financial Institutions serving diverse small businesses during 2016
– more than halfway to the goal of providing $75 million by
2018.
- In 2016, Wells Fargo financed $17.6
billion in renewable energy, clean technology, and other
sustainable businesses — up from $15 billion in 2015 — and bringing
our total environmental financing to more than $70 billion since
2012. More than 8 percent of all wind and solar energy generated in
the U.S. in 2016 came from projects owned wholly or in part by
Wells Fargo.
Operations and culture
- In 2016, the company engaged and
developed diverse businesses, spending $1.1 billion with diverse
suppliers, or 11.9 percent of our controllable procurement budget.
This puts the company on track to meet our goal of spending 15
percent of our controllable procurement budget with diverse
suppliers by 2020.
- The company improved its operational
efficiency, achieving among other metrics, a 36 percent reduction
in absolute greenhouse gas emissions and a 52% increase in water
efficiency from the 2008 baselines, putting Wells Fargo on track to
meet efficiency goals of 45 percent and 65 percent, respectively,
by 2020.
- Wells Fargo increased volunteer group
participation by 13 percent over 2015, which is nearly halfway to
the goal of a 30 percent increase by 2020. In addition, team
members volunteered 1.73 million hours to nonprofits, putting the
company on track to meet or exceed a goal of 8.5 million volunteer
hours by 2020.
“It is our hope that our ongoing work to address these and other
challenges in our business and our communities illustrates Wells
Fargo’s sincere commitment to actively and authentically take
action on the principles of corporate citizenship throughout our
business,” said Jon Campbell, Wells Fargo’s director of Government
and Community Relations. Read more from Campbell at
stories.wf.com/continuing-commitment-creating-stronger-communities/.
For more information about Wells Fargo’s 2020 goals and
progress, visit
https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/corporate-responsibility/.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is a diversified,
community-based financial services company with $2.0 trillion in
assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells
Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and
consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,500 locations,
13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and
has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers
who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately
273,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in
the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 27 on
Fortune’s 2016 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells
Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and
help them succeed financially. News, insights and perspectives from
Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170421005156/en/
Wells FargoMediaJennifer Dunn,
202-303-2966Jennifer.g.dunn@wellsfargo.com@jenniferdunnWF
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