NEW YORK, July 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- AllianceBernstein
L.P. (AB) and AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (AB Holding) (NYSE:AB)
announced today that Valerie Grant,
Alexia Howard and Yumi Narita have been selected to join the
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board's (SASB) Standards
Advisory Group (SAG). Each of these senior leaders at AB will work
to enhance sustainability-related disclosure by advising SASB on
matters related to the development and implementation of standards
in the technology & communication, consumer goods and food
& beverage sectors, respectively. Their volunteer efforts will
ensure that investors and other stakeholders benefit from standards
that are market-informed, timely and of the highest
quality.
Valerie Grant is a
Senior Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager for the firm's
Responsible U.S. Equities portfolio, a large cap equity portfolio
designed to give clients exposure to companies that are performing
well or improving on the dimension of corporate responsibility
while generating attractive risk-adjusted returns. She has been
with AB for 13 years and has played a key role in expanding the
firm's responsible investing capabilities.
Alexia Howard is a
Senior Vice President, Managing Director and Senior Research
Analyst at AB Bernstein, where she has covered the U.S. foods
sector since 2006. She has conducted research and written
extensively on how health, wellness and sustainability have become
important investment themes in the food industry. She was also a
member of the SASB working group that developed the organization's
first sustainability standards for the packaged food and
agricultural sectors.
Yumi Narita is a Vice
President and Global Head of Corporate Governance at AB. She has
been engaging companies on environmental, social and governance
risks and opportunities on behalf of investors for 15 years,
supporting the standardization of performance metrics and more
consistent disclosure. Through her work, she has developed a
nuanced understanding how companies approach reporting on these
metrics.
"We are excited that Valerie, Yumi and Alexia have been selected
to join this important initiative at SASB," said Seth Bernstein, President and CEO,
AllianceBernstein. "Their diverse backgrounds in portfolio
management, governance and research will bring unique perspectives
to the conversation on developing consistent standards for
materiality and disclosure, which is vitally important for
improving market efficiency and capital allocation as well as
creating better societal outcomes over the long term."
In addition to their commitment to sustainability, the SAG
members are united in their belief that standards can improve the
quality and comparability of sustainability-related information,
support of SASB's mission to provide investors with relevant and
decision-useful information, and willingness to engage a diverse
set of stakeholders in the development of standards for
disclosure.
"Our team is eager to receive valuable market feedback from this
impressive group of experts who comprehend the ever-changing
sustainability issues impacting their industries," said
Bryan Esterly, Director of Research
– Standards at SASB. "The diversity of their backgrounds and
perspectives will be critical as we look to ensure the standards
are globally applicable, cost-effective for companies, and
decision-useful for investors."
AB believes that being a responsible investor starts with being a
responsible company. The firm has been a signatory to the United
Nations supported Principles of Responsible Investing since 2011,
and regularly reports on its activities relating to responsible
investing, corporate social responsibility, proxy voting,
governance, and stewardship. For more information on AB's
commitment to sustainability and responsible investing, click
here.
About AllianceBernstein
AllianceBernstein is a
leading global investment management firm that offers high-quality
research and diversified investment services to institutional
investors, individuals and private wealth clients in major world
markets.
As of March 31, 2019, including both the general
partnership and limited partnership interests
in AllianceBernstein, AllianceBernstein
Holding owned approximately 35.2%
of AllianceBernstein and AXA Equitable Holdings,
Inc. ("EQH"), directly and through various subsidiaries, owned
an approximate 65.6% economic interest in AllianceBernstein.
Additional information about AB may be found on our
website, www.alliancebernstein.com.
About SASB
The Sustainability Accounting Standards
Board (SASB) Foundation is an independent, nonprofit
standard-setting organization that develops and maintains robust
reporting standards that enable businesses around the world to
identify, manage and communicate financially material
sustainability information to their investors. SASB standards are
evidence based, developed with broad market participation, and are
designed to be cost-effective for companies and decision-useful for
investors. To download any of the 77 industry-specific standards,
or learn more about SASB, please visit www.SASB.org and follow
us @SASB.
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SOURCE AllianceBernstein