UBS Asset Management is ramping up engagement with its tenants in the UK and the Netherlands in a bid to boost their social value.
The firm is working with UK social enterprise the Social Value Portal on a pilot to survey not just its tenants but also its property and facilities managers on their social impact.
The asset manager has already completed a three-month trial of the technology on the Springfields Outlet Centre in Spalding, Lincolnshire, and now plans to roll it out to five other properties.
The Social Value Portal helps firms to measure and manage the contribution that their organisation and supply chain make to society.
David Hirst, chief operating officer of UBS-AM REPM and chair of the REPM sustainability workgroup, real estate and private markets, said: “We went to all our occupiers at Springfields. We asked them a series of questions on how they can encourage good behaviour, for example by offering apprenticeships on site or rehabilitating offenders.
“We can’t dictate how occupiers behave but it is helpful to prompt conversations. A lot of these sorts of tenants will have corporate responsibilities anyway. It is about waking up areas that people maybe haven’t thought about. There can often be a disconnect between a property person on site and their head office sustainability team, for example. This allows us to work with them and connect interested parties.”
UBS Asset Management’s efforts come as environmental and social factors become increasingly front and centre of property investment decisions. The asset manager is aiming to map out the social value of its assets.
It plans to expand the pilot across its flagship UK fund Triton. It has planned pilots on an office scheme in Croydon, south London, a student site in London, an office in Reading, Berkshire, and an industrial park outside Manchester. It will also run the pilot on an office in Amsterdam.
“The intention after that is to refine the results, talk to occupiers and then look at doing this across the portfolio.”
UBS Asset Management’s UK property portfolio comprises around 50 assets.
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